#LDF13 ‘Multitudinal’ by Hedy Parry-Davies

hedy detail 1

Parry-Davies’ piece for Type Tasting explores the ways we experience the River Thames through a combination of the maps we use to navigate our way around the city—via the Underground, cycling, walking and driving. The different maps show the overview of the city both present and past, and also link us to the personal experience of existing within it. “Maps express a wide range and detail of information efficiently and in a form which I find beautiful. My tessellated origami enabled me to inter-weave all these elements to create an artwork.”

“I am a practising architect and my interest in this profession originates from my preoccupation with design and the crafts that contribute to the construction of buildings. My specialism in the conservation of historic buildings has provided opportunities to discover the traditional craft and decorative skills used in masonry, timber, leadwork, plasterwork and slating, amongst others, and has also involved me in the application and the commissioning of these specialist skills.

“In my tessellation work I like to use redundant materials, maps, manuscripts and other papiér trouvé. I combine these two-dimensional images to craft three-dimensional works of art experimenting with the tensions between content and form. The paper construction allows for both continuity and concealment of the detail which creates intrigue and invites exploration. The juxtaposition of different and repetitive geometric forms contibutes to the overall composition.

Hedy Parry-Davies was born and educated in Haifa, Israel and moved to England in 1974 to study architecture at Greenwich University. She has been practising as an architect since 1980, mainly working on conservation and restoration of historic buildings. These have included William Kent House / The Ritz Hotel, Piccadilly; Royal Ballet School, Covent Garden; Royal Ordnance Depot, Weedon; Apart Hotel, Cannon Street, London; Swallows Barn, Cornwall.