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    Abstract work with deep colour movement (blue and black) from upper right to lower to mid left. Yellow burst in upper left with clay streaks falling downwards.
    Caption
    Alone with you (I), Lavinia Harrington, 2024, pastel, clay, water, handmade paper, 114.5 x 163 x 5 cm

    ©the artist

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    Abstract with deep contrast between areas of light and dark. Heavily textured with raised paper surface in upper central area. Soft flow of grey pastel pigment from centre to lower edge.
    Caption
    Alone with you (II), Lavinia Harrington, 2024, pastel, water, handmade paper, 113.5 x 163 x 10 cm

    ©the artist

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    Detail of textured area, strong contrast between light and dark with some deeper blues.
    Caption
    Alone with you (II), Lavinia Harrington, 2024, pastel, clay, water, handmade paper, 113.5 x 163 x 10 cm

    ©the artist

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    Abstract paper sculpture shown partially unfolded and resting between the wall and floor. Dark earthy pastel colour movement above transitioning into lighter areas below.
    Caption
    Alone with you (IV), Lavinia Harrington, 2024, pastel sculpture, folded handmade paper, 135.5 x 94 cm (unfolded)

    ©the artist

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    Detail of earth colours transitioning to lighter areas showing worked areas of textured paper.
    Caption
    Alone with you (IV), detail, Lavinia Harrington, 2024, pastel sculpture, folded handmade paper, 135.5 x 94 cm (unfolded)

    ©the artist

Lavinia Harrington – MA/MFA

I am moved by how soft, vulnerable materials can hold and emanate deeply charged emotions. Through making, I am searching for ways to materialise sensation. The works that grow from this are not representations but embodiments. For this reason, questions of care and empathy are at the heart of my practice.

I work directly with my hands, embedding pastel into paper, which I fold, unfurl, soak and rub until the tactile sensibilities of surface and structure resonate with the experiences I am exploring. My works emerge from an accumulation of action and erasure, contemplation and somatic movement, and are guided by visceral reactions to colour.

Through my practice I consider how the body stores and can transform trauma, how we exchange care and connection through touch, and the impact of non-consensual touch. Above all, it is sustained by a desire to engage with and share our astonishing capacity to empathise.