New sculpture hits all the right notes
A sculpture by Winchester based artist Sophie Wiltshire has been commissioned by a local group called Polly and the Billets Doux for the cover of their debut album 'Fiction, Half-Truths and Downright Lies'
The fascinating sculpture, which is now on public display at City Space in the Winchester Discovery Centre, was created at Sophie’s studio in Winchester. It portrays the band members surgically operating on a crocodile and making an unusual discovery in the process.
The subject matter is in keeping with the album title, which brings to mind varying degrees of truth and reality. In her sculpture, Sophie explores the ways in which myths develop from actual occurrences and how the initial truth of a story becomes obscured in its retelling.
Sophie said: “I placed the theme of the sculpture in the context of the modern scientific world. However, by introducing a familiar character from children's literature like the crocodile from Peter Pan, my surgeons are revealing something distinctly unscientific and possibly quite unnerving, and discovering that fiction is not so far from the truth.”
'Fiction, Half-Truths, and Downright Lies', the critically acclaimed debut album by Polly and the Billets Doux, was released in August this year on the Bleak Mouse record label. Uncut Magazine reviewed it earlier in the year, commenting: “Perry’s exquisite voice is the killer here: it blends the dynamism of Wanda Jackson with Norah Jones’ effortless cool. All round, it’s quite an achievement.”
The album is available to buy nationwide and to download online. For information about upcoming gigs and releases, and to sample their music, visit www.pollyandthebilletsdoux.co.uk
For more information about Sophie Wiltshire’s work, visit her website at http://sophiewiltshire.co.uk
The sculpture will be on display in the window case in the main entrance foyer of the Discovery Centre until Friday 9 October.
The City Space gallery is managed by Winchester City Council. For more information, please contact the Exhibitions Coordinator