A short interview with Polly

Sue: How do you choose the objects we can see in your work, Polly, and do they hold specific meaning for you?

Polly: I am drawn to heavy objects. Last year I worked with old irons, weights and shoe lasts. More recently I’ve been working with spades, forks and tools. I like the shape, I’m drawn to them. I’m aware that even though these tools are useful they can hurt you; if you dropped one on your foot, for instance, or maybe something much worse. They also seem to signify power and authority. I choose tools that reveal their history through wear and tear and rust, knowing they’ve been used over time by someone’s hands. That sense of history is very important to me. I also like the idea of taking them out of context. They’re still tools but they’re also presences. You’re looking at them and they’re looking back at you.

Sue: What, if anything, are you hoping to convey by the materials you use in your work?

Polly: Laying a heavy tool onto fragile paper immediately reveals a contrast between the two. In that moment the paper is disturbed in some way, it often tears a little bit. I don’t mind the tears, I just mend them, adding history to the drawings.

Sue: Can you talk about the nature of the mark making in your work?

Polly: I’ve been mark-making in this way for a long time, often when I’m at a loss, a bit depressed. At its most basic, when I don’t know what I know about anything, I can find my way around an object with a pencil then fill that outline putting one line next to another. Everything else has come from that. Each line represents a different moment, and as each line follows, there’s a sense of time passing. There’s labour in digging and there’s labour in drawing. Both can make your back ache!

With thanks to Sue Vass, Artist