Ingrid Kerma & Kate Palmer

The Irresistible Force

27 October- 9 December 2006

Both Kate Palmer’s and Ingrid Kerma’s work explores the intensity of relationship with their mothers; the irresistible force.

Kate Palmer, A split in the grain, 2006, oil and mixed media on canvas, 114 x 305cm

Palmer’s works on paper ‘Now that I can no longer touch you’ deal with separation, loss and desire following her mother’s death. Two elements in each work are recorded in desire and attraction – pulled or held in a stasis – or in fear and ambivalence, sometimes their communication is equal – sometimes one is markedly different from the other. The roles interchange as the relationship buckles and twists within its confinement. Her paintings A split in the grain 1 and A split in the grain 2 explore the space a bereavement leaves. Lines on the surface reveal traces of communication.

Kate Palmer, Untitled, 2006, oil and mixed media on canvas, 114 x 305cm

Kerma’s plaster body-cast of her mother explores her mother’s strength and fragility. Both the surface and edges of the material seem torn and fragile, and although her mother - Elsa - is shown to be on crutches, there is a tremendous presence and strength that is communicated.

Ingrid Kerma, Elsa, 2006, plaster and mixed media, 160 x 65 x 40cm

Her photographs are in two series; one in black and white from 1973 shows her mother dancing with her daughter in the garden - joy and laughter in her face, and the other is a series of portraits from 2000 and 2006. These images show her mother’s life-force and are a celebration of her and her qualities.

Ingrid Kerma was born in 1942 near Berlin in Germany. She studied Fine Art at Reading University and took her MA at Goldsmiths College, London. She lives and works in both London and Berlin. Kate Palmer was born in England in 1966. She studied Fine Arts at Central St Martins and did her MA at the Royal College of Art. She now lives and works in London.