We've seen some innovative sculpture at Long & Ryle gallery before with the fairytale art of Su Blackwell and Natalie Meyjes carved from books and their pages. Katharine Morling is just as innovative but her medium of choice is porcelain. Her works often fool the eye into thinking they are made from paper because of their delicacy and intricacy, and their monochrome appearance.
In this solo show Morling's full range is on display from a life sized chair down to a box of matches where each of the individual matches are separate items and can be removed from the box. Several of her large works relate to the natural world including a head of a zebra attached to the wall like a trophy and a fox prowling the gallery.
Though her larger works are impressive, it's the medium sized ones that showcase her full ability as the details can often be exquisite such as the telephone that is bursting forth with numbers and letters or the kitchen utensil rack where each piece hangs separately. Other noteworthy works include a rather sinister bag filled with medical equipment, including a needle, and miniature bulldozers.
Some of Morling's most recent works deal with the theme of humanity and our interaction with nature. Butterflies erupt from an opened box while most of the human figures appear masked as if ashamed of their behaviour. In Falling, a woman blindfolded with angel's wings sits on a ledge with broken fragments all around her – it's a serene and ambiguous sculpture with a dream-like quality to it.
Porcelain is a tricky medium to sculpt with but this exhibition shows us Katharine Morling's ability to use it to create anything from cameras to a sleeping girl.
Katharine Morling: Shifting Perspectives is on at Long & Ryle, 4 John Islip St, SW1P 4PX until 20 December. Entrance is free.
