Life-size art goes on show (From Stroud News and Journal)

Life-size art goes on show

STROUD'S Museum in the Park is to host, for the first time, a touring exhibition by a Stroud-based artist.

The exhibition, entitled The Crowd, is a motley collection of life-size figurative mosaics by Cleo Mussi, including faces, arms, hands and feet and a cast of charismatic characters such as The Three Graces, Adam and Eve, The Sun and Moon and Mother Earth.

Cleo originally trained in Fashion and Textiles at Brighton Polytechnic and Goldsmiths University, London.

She began making pebble mosaics in 1988, taking inspiration from artist Maggie Howarth, spending time in Normandy, which is famed for its pebble beaches, collecting resources and further inspiration for her pieces.

Whilst unpacking her pebbles back in England, she discovered they had smashed the crockery she had bought; this 'happy accident' led her to china mosaics.

Since then she has worked solely on mosaics fashioned from pieces of mass produced china.

"I recycle a large proportion of my materials," she said, "and what interests me is the combination of marks and glazes, pattern and ornament, as well as functional details that can be combined. The pieces that I use are mainly from mass produced tableware, everyday plates, cups and bowls."

This solo exhibition marks a return to more personal work after a series of large scale public commissions across Britain, including a stunning twenty metre square mosaic for John Lewis in Solihull, Birmingham.

"Exhibiting the work of a solo artist is a first for the Museum," said Museum representative Jill Shonk, "and this show should appeal to people of all ages."

The exhibition runs from Saturday, February 22 to April 27. The Museum is open 10am to 4pm weekdays and 11am to 4.30pm weekends. It is closed on a Monday.