WORK OF THE WEEK: Abigail Reynolds, When Words Are Forgotten, 2018

Abigail Reynolds
When Words Are Forgotten, 2018
Steel, acrylic, tinted and textured glass and found materials
275 x 360 x 48 cm / 108 ⅕ x 141 x 19 in.

[Abigail] reminds us that while glass may be clear, it is never neutral – each glass gives a subtly different view of the world.

Hettie Judah, 2024

Abigail Reynolds (b.1970) studied English Literature at St Catherine’s College, Oxford University, and subsequently a Fine Art MA at Goldsmiths College, University of London. Literature has a resounding influence in her work, with the artist drawing thematic inspiration from famous authors, libraries, and novels. When Words Are Forgotten, 2018, mimics library shelves laden with overlapping books, inspired by a pilgrimage which Reynolds embarked on in 2016 to the sites of 15 lost libraries along the ancient ‘Silk Road’. Reynolds describes When Words Are Forgotten as 'a library without words', considering the power of books to colour and distort our perceptions, and also the fragility of books and of the structures of knowledge that they represent.

Situated in the Gallery and Orangery, Reynolds’ glass creations engage in a shifting dialogue with their surrounds. With light constantly altering this relationship, her work invites us to contemplate our sense of time and place within the landscape at Roche Court.

Working from her studio in Porthmeor, St Ives, Abigail Reynolds draws from the Cornish landscape and its rich cultural heritage, inspired by ancient Cornish customs such as burning seaweed to use in glass making. She reuses found glass, or her own handmade glass, to create lenses through which the landscape beyond can be seen in a new light. Abigail Reynolds exhibited When Words Are Forgotten across all four cities of the British Art Show 9 tour, from 2021-22. In 2022, she completed a permanent major commission for Kresen Kernow, the Cornish Archive Centre, accompanied by a publication. In March 2016, Reynolds was awarded the BMW Art Journey Prize at Art Basel to travel to lost libraries along the Silk Road, an ancient trade route connecting China to the Roman Empire. Her book documenting this journey, Lost Libraries, was published by Hatje Cantz in 2018.

Abigail Reynolds, When Words Are Forgotten, 2018, installed in the Orangery

Abigail Reynolds, When Words Are Forgotten, 2018, detail