Arts

21 Jan 09

Rachel Woodruff's art displayed in Littlegate House.

An Oxford University administrator has caused a stir in her workplace after revealing a secret talent for sculpting.

Rachel Woodruff has been working for the History of Art Department for almost four years running the administration. But unbeknown to most of her art-loving colleagues, Rachel, who has a degree in art and psychology from Southampton University and an MA in gallery studies from Essex University, spends her free time creating art, and her latest work Bare Bones has recently been installed in the foyer of Littlegate House on St Ebbes.

Rachel’s work originates from a long held interest in the visual forms of prehistory, archaeology and burial and ceremonial structures in the landscape. Her sculptures also reflect a preoccupation with process and the ephemeral, as well as the passing of time and decay.  She chooses her materials and forms to encompass a sense of ‘returning to the land’.

Rachel said: 'Bare Bones was created as a response to the skeletons in the main court of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.  I am fascinated by their structural forms, and the historical excavations, reconstructions and display of the specimens.  

'The piece, which is made from hessian, also alludes to the archaeology in and around St Ebbes that was excavated prior to the redevelopment of the area in the 1960s and 1970s. Finds included a stone coffin and a fragment of cloth in which the skeleton had been wrapped, and evidence of the presence of medieval textile manufacture.

’Rachel created the piece for the space after struggling to find a replacement for the last sculpture, which was removed in January 2007. She said: 'Over the summer, I had a moment of madness when I told the Buildings Manager that if she wrote me a brief, I would make a piece for the space. I am really excited about having my sculpture on display at Littlegate House - it has provoked some interesting conversations with our students and my colleagues in other departments in the building who now know what I do in my spare time. I may even move the piece - perhaps have it crawling up the stairs some time - just to keep people on their toes.'

The sculpture will be on site until January 2010.