WORKS OF THE WEEK: Victoria Rance, Pulpit and Martyr's Pulpit, 2006

Victoria Rance
Martyr's Pulpit, 2006
Painted steel and cast iron
137 x 103 x 103 cm
54 x 40 ½ x 40 ½ in.

Whilst drawing and studying the pulpits in Georgian churches along the Strand in London, Victoria Rance noticed that their height, form and style changed over time. As years went by, pulpits became lower, so those preaching would be closer to their congregation. Overlooking the lawn at Roche Court, and the sprawling landscape beyond, Rance’s Pulpit offers a place to address an ‘audience’. In her words, the Pulpit is a “celebration of freedom of speech, and the joy of expressing ideas in words to others”.

A companion sculpture to Pulpit, Martyr’s Pulpit is entrapping. There is no opening at the back, so the viewer is unable to freely step in and out. Here, Rance references the dangers of fundamentalism, and the flaming steel finials which adorn the top remind us of a martyr’s demise. Both Pulpit and Martyr’s Pulpit were shown in STEEL ,an exhibition at 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, in 2006.

Victoria Rance
Pulpit, 2006
Powder coated steel
106 x 145 x 145 cm
41 ¾ x 57 ⅛ x 57 ⅛ in.

Victoria Rance (b. 1959 in Berkshire) studied Fine Art at Newcastle University graduating in 1983, before receiving an MA from Kingston University in 2009. Using a diverse range of materials and processes, themes of shielding and protecting are prominent in her practice. Masks, helmets, armour and cocoons are constructed from both fabric and steel. Designed to be worn, these works instigate a sense of interactivity between the viewer and sculpture and interactions are often recorded in photographs, films and animation.

Victoria Rance’s work has been exhibited widely. Notable shows include If Not Now When, Generations of Sculpture by Women in Britain 1960-2020 at Hepworth Wakefield 2023 and Saatchi Gallery London 2023-4; Firebird, Cable Depot, Platform Project, Athens, Greece (2022); Creek Dreams, Seager Gallery, London (2022); The Night Horse and the Holy Baboon at the Cello Factory, London (2017) and Spire, The Economist Plaza, London (2000). In 2003/4, she received the Mark Tanner Award for Sculpture. In August, Victoria Rance will have a solo show at Cable Depot, Sofia, Bulgaria, and in November, show sculpture in an exhibition titled Landscapes and Otherworlds with painter Alexander Pemberton at Heckmann Design Studio in London.