Nowhere

Philip Sanderson exhibits at The Millennium Gallery, Sheffield Museum
22 October 2009 – 31 January 2010

Philip Sanderson’s most recent tapestry,'Nowhere', has been produced for Sheffield Museum’s Exhibition ‘Can Art Save Us?’ and is one of only 4 works commissioned by the museum. The exhibition is inspired by the ideas and insights of critic, author, artist and scholar, John Ruskin (1819-1900) who was arguably ahead of his time in his recognition of the environment as a finite resource. Featuring paintings, sculpture, installations and mixed media work from the Tate, V&A, National Gallery and the Natural History Museum, ‘Can Art Save Us?’ sees Ruskin’s legacy illustrated through a diverse selection of historic and contempory art including work from the artists William Morris and Barbara Hepworth.

“Ideas for this project flowed naturally” said Sanderson “Ruskin’s environmental theories, in terms of imagery, connect well with my own interests in landscape based inspiration” The title of Philip’s piece, came from a quote from Ruskin’s autobiography ‘Praeterita’: ‘At last, the tree was there, and everything I had thought before about trees, nowhere…’. Philip’s tapestry ‘Nowhere’, sprang from a photograph that he had taken some time ago, the location is unknown.
The photograph was photocopied and enlarged to give the image a specific quality before it went through its final transformation in its translation to tapestry. A combination of blending in the weft and the setting of the warp has been used to create a parallel between the woven bead and the pixel so the image retains a sense of the original photograph.
‘Nowhere’ will be on sale for £7,895.00 at the Millennium Gallery, Sheffield Museum.