Wolverhampton Art Gallery acquisition, January 2018

Following on from Hodes’ solo exhibition, Remember Me, at Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Summer 2017, the Gallery has acquired two papercuts from the series Grammar of Ornament, together with their accompanying ceramic plates, for their permanent Collection.
Grammar of Ornament is a series of complementary papercuts and ceramics that correspond to, and engage with, each of the thirty-seven ‘general principles’ of architecture and design proposed by Owen Jones in his 1856 publication. In the papercuts, Hodes features the female figure as a device to disrupt the rigidity of the Victorian hierarchical system Jones presents, while the ceramic plates draw upon this imagery to move the work a step further into the domestic realm. Both the papercuts and the ceramics are informed by the jewel-like chromolithographic reproductions in the original publication.
A group of papercuts and ceramics from this series were exhibited in Remember Me, at Wolverhampton Art Gallery alongside three of the original book plates from the original Victorian publication that are held in the Gallery’s permanent Collection.

Proposition 05: Fine Balance 101 x 59cm, papercut

Proposition 07: Interstices 56 x 89cm, papercut

Proposition 05: Fine Balance 30cm diameter, hand cut transfer on china

Proposition 07: Interstices 30cm diameter, hand cut transfer on china