In Cathy Wilkes she creates installations using found objects and also includes some of her own paintings.
I really like Wilkes work as I think that her pieces create an interesting - and to me quite eerie, unsettling and sinister - atmosphere. Placing these human like figures amongst these objects creates a whole situation and scenario within the space these objects occupy.
What I like most about this work is that the viewer is allowed to impose their own story onto the installation and create a sort of dialogue between the "characters".
Part of what I think makes this piece interesting in particular is the use of the hanging sheets. These are reminiscent of an washing line giving the sense of home life an comfort. The patterns on these sheets also remind me of wallpaper furthering this feeling.
However even though they give a sense of comfort and protection, it also acts as a barrier, blocking the audience's view on the installation. They seem to be trying to hide what is happening behind them, with what is going on behind them appearing to be somewhat dark and potentially depressing.
In my work I have used found objects to tell some sort of story or dialogue behind the objects, however I have never really used them to tell a whole separate story.
In all I like these installations and I like the artists ability to tell a story but not reveal all to the audience but allow them to make it up for themselves with the objects presented.
NB - all photographs here have been taken from this site:
https://www.themoderninstitute.com/artists/cathy-wilkes
I do not own any of the pictures on this post.
