A twist of the hand

A twist of the hand is an exhibition of wall drawings informed by the use of pattern and colour in ancient Greece and Rome. Preserved architectural details, remnants of colour, geometric mosaics, and objects all serve as points of departure for the creation of new works, carefully sited among the Museum of Classical Archaeology’s cast collection. James Epps evokes the colourful worlds from which the ancient sculptures derive, inviting new relationships of pattern and colour.

Epps' works are bright, playful and mounted directly onto the Museum’s breeze-block walls. The mountboard is arranged in patterns, formulated to sit within the architectural features of the museum’s gallery itself, or in dialogue with casts from the collection. Visitors can gain a unique insight into Epps' working methods in his arrangement of the museum’s pottery sherd collection alongside materials and research sources from his own practice.

In my practice, the physical qualities of the materials and location are instrumental in forming the work, be it folding paper to create a shape or intersecting the architectural features of a space with a line. For the large scale works I have made in-situ, the site shapes the drawing and the drawing engages the viewer with the site.

James Epps

Epps’ work creates a compelling and complex dialogue between our contemporary moment and the historic past. Plaster casts such as the Loacoön Group, where the figure’s arm has changed position over a lifetime of repairs, are emblematic of how these casts and their originals are not fixed but like all artworks change across time.

About the Artist

James Epps creates both large scale site-site specific works and smaller paper- and object-based works. The physical qualities of the materials and location are instrumental in forming both, be it folding paper to create a shape or intersecting the architectural features of a space with a line. Epps considers his work within the practice of drawing, which is a methodology that allows for thought processes and physical actions to be manifested together.

It was as artist-in-residence at the British School at Rome in 2017, immersed in the city's ancient geometric mosaics, that Epps fully realised how artists and makers have always worked with colour and pattern: ‘Here in Cambridge I have continued this interest, but now with the unique opportunity to have my works in direct conversation with casts from ancient cultures.'

Acknowledgements

James Epps would like to thank Catrin Huber, Jonathan P Watts, Susanne Turner and everyone at Museum of Classical Archaeology for their kind help and sharing their expertise.

The exhibition design identity is by Adam Pugh.

The development of work for this exhibition was supported by Arts Council England, Developing your Creative Practice.