Exhibition dates: 23rd October – 1st November 2014 As part of Manchester Science Festival -- proudly produced by the Museum of Science & Industry and supported by Siemens -- PAPER will present new work on paper by artist/researcher, Daksha Patel in our temporary annex space. Her drawing Dust, responds to the conservation and cleaning of historic wall hangings at The People's History Museum, Manchester. Daksha's practice engages with visualisation technologies, and her research process involved examining dust samples using SEM (scanning electron microscopy) and optical microscopes. The resulting work explores the different values associated with dust; it is something that contaminates, a physical trace of history, and also a substance with magical properties. The drawing is produced from natural pigments such as minerals and iron oxides; materials that can be found in the earth. Daksha's practice is centred upon drawing, and she often employs unusual drawing materials and grounds such as oil, clay and raw cotton. She is interested in mapping and measurement, both in relation to the environment and the human body. Her practice responds to the medical body, particularly technologies of vision and the medical visualisation. Daksha Patel is a Manchester based artist who exhibits widely, both nationally and internationally. Her work was included in the Wellcome Trust exhibition Brains: The Mind as Matter at Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester in 2013, and she is currently showing new work at the Imperial War Museum North as part of the Asia Triennial Manchester. Later this year she will have a solo show at Touchstones, Rochdale.
