Plaster, chalk dust, and Vaseline, or substances such as face powder, lipstick, and nail varnish are often the raw materials used by Karla Black (born 1972 in Alexandria, lives and works in Glasgow). Her delicate works—whether transparent cellophane arranged sculpturally to hang from the ceiling, or fragile works of gossamer-fine powder sprinkled onto the floor—present references to the
Minimal and
Conceptual art of the 1960s and 1970s. Karla Black extends the classical notion of sculpture through a process-oriented, performative handling of cultural connotations and untypical materials. Not only does she create an oppositional model to the brute effect of
Minimal art, but through the use of unstable and simple substances her work ties into the history of antiform, as defined notably by
Robert Morris in his use of felt, or
Eva Hesse in her deployment of latex.
Karla Black has been selected to represent Scotland at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011.
