Braid Bound

Savella Michael has worked with paper and coloured pencils, and with water-soluble ink. In her previous work, colour self-adhesive cut outs layered on fine black and white drawings, create contrasts of an apparent harmony and a subtle frenzy.

For the last three years now Savella Michael has been working on the project, “Delicious Buns”. Having developed in the process, at first stage, however, she worked with small-scale and large black and white drawings of braids and buns set in different moods and contexts. 

At a later stage, the artist developed these drawings into what look like a delicate drawing book. Each drawing on every page retells a tale, as these stories slide smoothly into each other. Girls’ pony tales fly in disarray, some at fiery speed and high impact, while others, symmetrically parade into what might wonderfully remind us of Alice’s other worlds. The solo exhibition, titled “Braid Bound”, includes a video, which, in some ways, uncovers the artist’s silent telling of this drawing book experience. Turning the pages of each illustration, Savella Michael grants the viewer a “reading” of each leaf, entering and exiting each one at the slow and reflective rhythm of this movement. And while she is not physically present in this video, her fingers are.