Due to Corona virus social distance restrictions we have gone from 50 covers to 4 tables indoors. To take advantage of summer months trading, we put up a Marquee at the back of the restaurant for some sheltered extra space. The Marquee looked a bit sad and it didnt reflect Partisan's beautiful interiors where art , lighting and furniture compliment our food to create an unforgettable experience. We approached Lu Mason, who has always created wonderful installations for us and in less than 24 hours, Sisters of Lockdown at partisan's secret garden manifested. 

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Lu's Statement : 

SISTERS OF LOCKDOWN… INSTALLATION AT PARTISAN….LU MASON, July 2020

 

This project started last year when I cut out 40 life size figures for an installation which I called Costume Drama. It celebrated how we decorate and ornament ourselves; this is a universal human trait across all places and times.  The costumes I depicted do not relate to specific races/times in history, but instead are a fabrication made up from elements from many different ones.  The figures were all made from hand painted and cut paper, and were suspended from a high stairwell so that they moved slowly with the air currents.

 

When the exhibition closed I decided to take the figures one step further, for my installation as a Bursary Artist for York Open Studio 2020.  I used the figures as stencils onto calico - calico is an inexpensive natural  fabric that is found all over the world, and was first used, as far as we know,  in the 11th century. My plan was to display the calico banners in such a way that you could walk around and between them.  I was inspired by protest banners, having seen many of them in the last few years. The installation was to be called Cut from the Same Cloth, and included the quote as spoken by Jo Cox before her brutal murder in the run up to the 2016 Referendum… 

“We are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us”.

Unfortunately the 2020 York Open Studio was cancelled due to Coronavirus.  One of the things I did during lockdown was to print a series of hand-stencilled T-shirts, featuring the heads and upper bodies of some of the figures.  I called this series Sisters of Lockdown.  When I was offered the chance to put something in the Marquee at the back of Partisan I jumped at the opportunity to hang  as an installation some of my Open Studios pieces, which had been lying unshown in my attic for weeks.  We decided to call this installation Sisters of Lockdown.

 

If you are interested in purchasing one, please talk to staff at Partisan.  

 

Email : lumasonbaker@googlemail.com

Website : www.madebylumason.weebly.com

Instagram : Lu Mason Baker