Unpredictably, however, this ‘ruler’ has no numbers, with only its wild grain and the artist’s rhythmically gauged marks suggesting anything against which to measure. Resting somewhat provisionally on the edge of a gallery table, it evokes a hinged ruler recently put down after use. The title piece of the show, If I measure it must exist, is made from a length of pine cut into three pieces and folded. However, these ‘moths’ are far from the transient, ephemeral creatures their name might suggest. These Rorschach-like geometric objects made from book-matched wood veneer, a material that is an explicit visual record of time, cling tentatively to the walls. Her ‘real phantoms’, meanwhile, are less recognisable. Made and installed to be deliberately without function, these objects are what Richardson refers to as ‘phantom reals’, physical reflections that exist as echoes of an original. Her use of MDF sits in tension with the objects it appears to represent.

Whether in her MDF ‘drawings’ of recognisable objects, as Richardson describes works such as Object for thinking about empty and Object for thinking about opening, or in her imagined ‘moths’ series, Richardson draws attention to the innate qualities of materials. Every element sits together to create a walk-through still life of Richardson’s making. Central to the exhibition are themes of balance and counterbalance, real and phantom, be it through intricate ink drawings of objects or in drawings in sculptural form.

Karsten Schubert London is pleased to present a solo exhibition of new work by Frances Richardson.

Pale moon ebony veener