Cathie Pilkington @ Ditching Museums of Arts & Craft

As part of Eric Gill: The Body with Cathie Pilkington, Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft continues to look at the dilemma presented by the artist’s work and his disturbing biography. A co-commission between Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft and Brighton Festival in a separate space features a new large installation by Pilkington, Doll for Petra (2017) which is inspired by a wooden doll carved by Gill for his four year old daughter Petra in 1910.
Dolls and figures have long recurred in Pilkington’s sculptures, prints and drawings. It is said that Petra disliked the carved doll her father gave her, which is neither a playful toy nor a sculptural object, and applied makeup to make it look more like her friends’ dolls. Pilkington’s response to this work comprises a series of five formal sculptural busts, modelled on the head of Gill’s doll and incorporating pedestals bearing Petra’s name. Each bust has a different painted finish, addressing different questions and stories about Gill’s work, materials and subject matter.