In this exhibition Cate Newton explores the theme of household labour. She has been influenced by reflecting on her grandmother’s work as a laundry maid in Port Glasgow in the early 1900s and the endless routine of keeping the family linen clean, white and ironed. 

 

The artist’s discovery of this part of her family history has led to a wider exploration of the household rituals which are found in all places, times and societies. In the works on display, the topography of creased, folded, pleated and otherwise manipulated materials reflects the eternal repetition of such human activities, embodying a philosophy of time as expressed by Michel Serres and others: time is not linear but endlessly regathers itself into itself.