Born in Bristol in 1977, Wellington-based artist, Siân Quennell Torrington graduated BA in Philosophy, Otago University (1998) Diploma Fashion and Textiles, NMIT (2001), and MFA with Distinction, Fine Arts, Massey University (2010). With numerous solo and group shows to her credit, her work has been commissioned for public art institutions including Soft is Stronger than Hard (City Gallery Wellington), The Way You Have Held Things (Christchurch Art Gallery), and the Public Art Fund, Wellington.
Staying open is a practice is an exhibition of pieces and fragments lovingly bound, stitched and layered together to make new wholes. In a constantly changing world, what has remained stable for Torrington is practice – working through expressive movement and opening up the body to keep discovering new feelings and spaces – “not getting stuck on what we thought we knew”.
Exploring interconnectivity, relationships and possibilities, Torrington works with the physicality of paint, pastels, and an array of materials. Using methods such as play, rearranging and attachment, she has spent time practising how to stay open, receptive, curious and flexible – “in these difficult times, we must use our imaginations to create new forms of connection, to hold together and show care”. In Torrington’s works, we see fluidity in paint that has been dripped, scooped and squashed, bulging where it has been tied down, pushing out to create new forms. We see challenge, tension and effort in stitched lines drawn by machine and by hand – needle and thread wielded to create connection and strength. Through an expressive language of colour, intense layering builds strength. There is also a lightness to this body of work – a new ability to breathe after the breath-holding of the last few years.
Torrington’s visual language has many elements underpinned by a belief that connection is always possible. The connections that are made through these works show us the effort that is required – the binding of tenuous bridges that need strengthening, and hundreds of stitches used to bring us closer.