Gillian’s sculpture is rooted in Modernist principles of manipulating form, space and material. She constructs her sculpture in steel, with additional elements in other materials; wood, stone, concrete and objects cast in Jesmonite, a gypsum-based powder mixed with an acrylic resin.
She creates spatial and dynamic configurations that synthesise her observations, allude to function and suggest new narratives. Her work process is responsive and organic, using fairly simple techniques to construct sculpture from collections of elements. The space within and around her sculptures becomes activated by the physical materials. Working with balance and gravity is an important of her making process; physical, visual and conceptual.
She casts domestic and natural objects in Jesmonite to use as sculptural forms, bringing a focus on subjectivity and shared experience, yet these take on alternative roles in their relation to other materials and to the spatial dynamics of the sculpture. She is interested in how the forms can be repurposed rather than the nostalgia the objects generate, although she isn’t able to control how others see them.