Ptolemy Mann: Albedo
This month, textile artist Ptolemy Mann is showing a new series of thread artworks at a solo exhibition at 62 Paul Street, London. Albedo explores the reflectivity of colour, specifically the proportion of light that is reflected by a surface, typically that of a planet or moon.
The term 'albedo' refers to a way of measuring the reflectivity of our planet’s surface on a scale from zero to one, where zero is an idealised black surface with no reflection, and one represents a white surface that has perfect reflection.
Ptolemy Mann has confronted her perpetual leukophobia (fear of the colour white) to produce this new series of artworks looking at the relationship between white, black and colour. The gallery space is focused around a monumental artwork projecting light and dark colour across its vast surface: this shifting rhythm.
Ptolemy Mann has been creating architectural and chromatic wall-based artworks from her studio since 1997, using her signature hand dyed and woven technique. A modern-day Bauhaus philosophy of product and art making combined with intelligent colour theory underpins all her work, both creative and commercial.
For over 20 years she has worked as a textile journalist and lecturer, as well as a commercial textile designer producing a range of furnishing fabrics, cushions, bed linen and throws with various brands and retailers. Her unique approach to hand dyeing and weaving brings her craft into the 21st century, in a dynamic modern context.
You can view some of the steps in Ptolemy’s process in Chromaticity, a short film made by Third.
Albedo is on display from 16th October.