Heidi Bucher - Rooms are Surroundings, are Skins - The Approach - Rooms are Surroundings, are Skins Installation view at The Approach, London Rooms are Surroundings, are Skins, Installation view at The Approach, London, 2013. Courtesy of the gallery.

Rooms are Surroundings, are Skins, Installation view at The Approach, London, 2013. Courtesy of the gallery.

Herrenzimmer, 1979 Latex, cotton, 207 x 134 cm. Courtesy of the gallery.

Herrenzimmer, 1979
Latex, cotton, 207 x 134 cm. Courtesy of the gallery.

 

Currently on view at The Approach, London is an exhibition of works by Heidi Bucher, “Rooms are Surroundings, are Skins”. Bucher (b. 1926, Winterthur, CH, d. 1993 Brunnen, CH) began her oeuvre with abstract collages and illustrations after studying fashion in Zurich the 1940s. She soon developed a distinct practice fusing sculpture and performance, ranging from sculptural costumes to latex and caoutchouc casts, the latter of which are shown in this exhibition.

 

In the mid-1970s, Bucher began to dip domestic items into natural and synthetic rubber, ranging from clothing to blankets and furniture. These intimate objects are transformed into smooth pictorial surfaces, which evoke women’s crafts and the home, motherhood and memory, but also sexuality and patriarchal structures. Soon, Bucher made latex and caoutchouc ‘skins’ of architectural features, whole rooms and facades, which represented a breakthrough in her practice.

 

“Rooms are Surroundings, are Skins” is on view through December 22nd, 2013.

 

For more information on Heidi Bucher visit The Approach, London.