25 x 44 cm | 9 x 17 in
Materials used: Mixed media
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Spiders are a constant in Andrea Bradbury’s work, having loved and been fascinated by them from a young age, the spider is a political motif. It is at once a feminist symbol, a creature of autonomy, a symbol of emotion and affect, and often, a device used to signify horror and revulsion. The spider is, as such, a rich and powerful symbol, multifaceted and complex.
Looking at Bradbury’s drawings and sculptures, it is often the spider’s legs that provide the focal point. Long and sleek yet bristly, the tangled mass of limbs can’t help but recall Louise Bourgeois, yet there’s something different about Bradbury’s spiders. Perhaps it’s that with their heads and bodies they teeter towards human form. Or maybe it’s that in these works they display a vulnerability, as often a heap of legs on the ground and they are standing upright. Either way, nothing is certain, and the works leave a degree of interpretation to the viewer, asking us to look, stop and think about around surroundings and the world, something we must do with an open mind, with compassion.