LONDON.- In the recently published monograph about her work, visual artist Caroline Broadhead is described as a unique voice across several disciplines. This exhibition, highlighting four decades of Caroline Broadhead’s work reflects the diversity and breadth of her practice, and shows how she has continued to forge her own particular path throughout her career.

Trained as a jeweller, Broadhead originally made work that took contact and interaction with the body as its subject. With her use of non-precious, often textile materials, she deviated from the prevailing norms at that time. The subsequent textile objects were difficult to categorise, existing between jewellery art, fashion and art. More and more frequently, they become part of performances. This lead to larger installations, dance performances and sculptures. Where the objects were originally literally close to the skin, they gradually moved away from the body.

In her work Broadhead explores the boundaries between disciplines, between body and surroundings, but also between private and public, observing and being watched, absence and presence, action and reaction, reality and illusion. Close Distance, an installation in Wollaton Hall in 2017 was a collaboration with choreographer Angela Woodhouse, artist Nic Sandiland and dancers. Broadhead’s reinvented found objects with embedded videos of dance that reflected on the tensions of the 17th century household, the leisurely life of the landlords and the frantic, restricted life of servants.

The value of her work is in the time and processes she uses to make ephemeral installations and experiences.

Broadhead received the Jerwood Prize for Applied Arts, Textiles in 1997 and won the Textiles International Open in 2004. She is currently exhibiting with her daughter, artist Maisie Broadhead in Reframe at Manchester Art Gallery. Broadhead is represented by Marsden Woo Gallery, London, where the recently published monograph Caroline Broadhead is available.

Broadhead held the position of Course Leader of BA Jewellery Design from 2009 at Central Saint Martins until her retirement in 2018, and is now Professor Emerita. She continues to teach on the course and is a guest lecturer at various institutions in and outside the UK.