Paloma Proudfoot’s practice spans sculpture, clothes making, performance, and text, bringing together strands of personal narrative, historical inquiry, and contemporary cultural references. Her work frequently addresses the fraught relationship between the human body and its constructed counterpart, referencing the gendered legacies of anatomical models, mannequins, and tailoring. With a background in garment making, Proudfoot often begins with paper templates before translating these into materials such as glazed ceramic, glass, metal, and textiles. Her approach combines the irregularity of handcraft with the structured logic of industrial production and the organic complexity of biomorphic forms. Through this interplay, her sculptures evoke the body’s vulnerability and porous boundaries. Emotions like shame, grief, and strength run through her work, as she draws out the metaphorical potential of materials to express what resists articulation. ...
The Approach is co-directed by Jake Miller and Emma Robertson. Located in Bethnal Green above The Approach Tavern, for over twenty years it has operated an internationally recognised programme from its East London base. The gallery is known for discovering artists and establishing their careers as well as making inter-generational curated group shows a strong focus. The list of represented artists includes the Estates of important overlooked female artists Heidi Bucher and Maria Pinińska Bereś, as well as seminal British collage artist John Stezaker, together with established and emerging artists including Magali Reus, Peter Davies, Lisa Oppenheim, Sandra Mujinga, Pam Evelyn, Sara Cwynar, Sam Windett and Caitlin Keogh. Over the years the gallery has operated parallel programmes in additional gallery spaces in London’s West End (The Approach W1) and in Shoreditch (The Reliance). The gallery is currently based solely in its original East End location and continues to expand its programme, showcasing its represented artists in the main gallery space, and both represented and non-represented artists in The Annexe, a smaller, more experimental space at the back of the building. ...
