Exhibits,

Catherine Bourne, Nick Pensa, Rehgan de Mather, Natasha Sutila, Darren McCrann, Victoria Lee, Celeste Potter, Ben Morley, Matthew Stanton, Maria-Luisa Marino The Matryoshka Principle

Opening: Tuesday 29th April 6-8pm Dates: 29 April-17 May 2008

‘The Matryoshka Principle’ brings together ten local visual artists and ten sets of blank Matryoshka dolls at Bus Gallery.

A set of Matryoshkas consists of a wooden figure which can be pulled apart to reveal another figure of the same sort inside. It has, in turn, another figure inside, and so on. Matryoshkas are often designed to follow a particular theme, for instance peasant girls in traditional dress, but the theme can be almost anything, ranging from fairy-tale characters to Soviet leaders. They are also used metaphorically, as a design paradigm, known as the matryoshka principle, or nested doll principle. It denotes a recognisable relationship of “similar object-within-object” that appears in the design of many other natural and man-made objects.

As a basis and as a starting point for their work, the artists have taken inspiration from the historical, cultural and metaphorical content of the artefacts, and have developed their Matryoshka sets into personal responses. Artists were encouraged to be innovative, with the only parameters being the doll as canvas, the aim being to explore a range of themes and experiences through the vehicle of the doll.