A Box of Miniatures

A Box of Miniatures: drawing, sculpture and finds on a journey from the UK to France

This summer I was invited to exhibit in the Expo d’Eté  at the Galerie du Bassin, Chalabre in the South-West of France. Whilst contemplating which artwork to take and looking through some recent drawings, I scanned my shelf of miniature works, test-pieces and finds which I had made in the spring for a micro gallery exhibition, Beyond Scale. Earlier this year, I had also exhibited A Line Across England in Between the Lines, a miniature exhibition at The House of Smalls.

I decided to take a miniature gallery with me and found the ideal box in my studio, still full of tools and materials from making String Wrapped. I selected some drawings and a small 3D work to curate when I arrived at the gallery. I wanted to take some of my treasured ‘finds’ with me but wasn’t sure that seed heads, leaves and various other natural materials would be ok to cross the border so decided to look for new ‘finds’ during the journey from the UK to France.

There is something about a small box of objects that creates an intimacy in its small scale, a micro gallery within a larger exhibition space. The Galerie du Bassin is a renovated ironmonger’s house with a courtyard and barn space. It is full of all kind of interesting objects and spaces so a selection of works in a box seemed appropriate for the space as well as being practical for travelling. By adding in my finds along the way, I could include the story of the journey, of places travelled through, and of the house itself and its former history.

For years I have been interested in Cabinets of Curiosity / Wunderkammer, from their beginnings to how artists have created works inspired by them in the present day. Also, how artists such as Duchamp and Calder made miniature works for travelling with. The mix of artworks with natural and geological objects inevitably has a connection to early pharmacies, museums, domestic collections in homes, and wonder rooms.

I decided to call my small box gallery Thinking in Miniature / Penser en Miniature. Alongside the drawings and sculpture, I included some stones found during walks through woodland and rivers. The river l’Isle, in the Parc Naturel Régional Périgord Limousin, is shallow upstream with sparkles of fool’s gold visible through the water and on the riverside ground. I’m always drawn to water and happy to have any excuse for swimming and paddling, so searching for these tiny specks of ‘gold’ was an obvious choice for the gallery. I also wanted to include something from the house in Chalabre and its treasure trove of objects. The domed magnifying lens from an old lantern caught my eye on a workbench. Perfect for placing on top of the fool’s gold. This quickly became my favourite work in the box.

The theme of three rivers also flowed through my journey, with Chalabre hosting a (Zambuni) River Festival of it’s trois rivières – Zambuni is also organising a UK River Summit in July 2025. On the way home, I swam several times in Lac d’Enchanet (Cantal) and kayaked up each of its three river sources.

It was lovely to be part of the exhibition and meet so many of the artists and I look forward to visiting again. Many thanks to Pascale and John and the artists in the exhibition for including me.

Below is the text that I wrote for the gallery to describe the works – apologies for any mistakes in my French. Let me know if you notice any errors! I recently wrote about a new series of works, Fe-Lines, including a video of its making, on my previous post, Thinking in Miniature.

Ruth Broadbent

Thinking in Miniature / Penser en Miniature (2024)

Groundlines / Lignes de terre

Fe-Lines

String Lines / Lignes de Ficelle

Imagined Lines / Lignes Imaginées (copper wire / fil de cuivre)

(Fool’s) Gold / L’Or (des Fous) – L’Isle

Stone / Pierre

Some of these artworks are part of a larger series of works (e.g. Groundlines) and others are work-in-progress /test pieces for ideas. Natural materials found on my journey from the UK to France have also been included. They each have a story and in some way reflect or are connected to my creative process.

Four Groundlines drawings, pencil rubbings of the ground made whilst walking, alongside two Fe-Lines, a new work and still in an experimental stage. 

Fe-Lines were made using a whisker shed by one of my cats, I drew horizontal lines reminiscent of the horizon line as sea and sky meet. This was more challenging than it sounds given that whiskers resist the ink – at times the drawn lines are almost invisible.

String Lines follow the movements of a string orchestra.

Imagined Lines (copper wire) is a detail of a large copper wire installation and a series of pen and paper drawings, Imagined Lines.

Read more at: https://www.ruthbroadbent.com/uncategorized/thinking-in-miniature/

Ruth Broadbent is inspired by nature, ecology, lines of landscape, and line in drawing and sculpture. Recent elemental works include Groundlines and responses to water, from seas to puddles. She is a member of drawing, walking and ecology artist networks, an educator, runs walk.draw events and is a Co-Director of Walking the Land CIC.

 

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Certaines de ces œuvres font partie d’une série plus vaste (par exemple Groundlines) et d’autres sont des travaux en cours ou des tests pour trouver des idées. Des matériaux naturels trouvés lors de mon voyage du Royaume-Uni vers la France ont également été inclus. Ils ont chacun une histoire et reflètent ou sont en quelque sorte liés à mon processus créatif.

Quatre dessins de Groundlines, des frottages au crayon du sol, ainsi que deux Fe-Lines, une nouvelle œuvre encore en phase expérimentale. 

Les Fe-Lines ont été réalisées à l’aide d’une moustache perdue par l’un de mes chats. J’ai dessiné des lignes horizontales rappelant la ligne d’horizon lorsque la mer et le ciel se rencontrent. C’était plus difficile qu’il n’y paraît étant donné que les moustaches résistent à l’encre – parfois les lignes tracées sont presque invisibles.

Lignes de Ficelle suivent les mouvements d’un orchestre à cordes.

Lignes Imaginées (fil de cuivre) est un détail d’une grande installation de fil de cuivre et d’une série de dessins.

Pour en savoir plus: https://www.ruthbroadbent.com/uncategorized/thinking-in-miniature/

Ruth Broadbent s’inspire de la nature, de l’écologie, des lignes du paysage et des lignes dans le dessin et la sculpture. Ses œuvres élémentaires récentes incluent Groundlines et des réponses à l’eau, des mers aux flaques d’eau. Elle est membre de réseaux d’artistes dessinateurs, marcheurs et écologistes, éducatrice, organise des événements walk.draw et est codirectrice de Walking the Land CIC.