'Ship's Tack', Foundling Museum
​2021

'In 'Ship’s Tack', Ingrid Pollard brings together fragile ceramic sculptures and prints of paper boats, with new textile works. The new pieces feature images of the unique hand-written autobiography of George King, the subject of The Foundling Museum's Fighting Talk exhibition. The paper boat sculptures were originally created as part of TradeWinds/LandFall 2008, a body of work investigating the importance of winds and sea currents in the historic commerce that crossed the Atlantic. The association with both childhood and seafaring links the boats to George, and his world at the dawn of the nineteenth century. The pages of George’s memoir, chosen by Pollard and printed onto translucent cotton voile, mention the names of friends, ships and places which form anchor points in his life. These names have a sense of familiarity and recognition, which in some way enables us to meet George across time. The choice of cotton also makes a connection with a pivotal moment in George’s life, and the wider forces of trade and empire which drove his journey.' – The Foundling Museum

Watch Pollard in conversation about 'Ship's Tack' here and listen to her specially created Spotify playlist here!

For more details of the Fighting Talk and George King exhibition, including a video, see here.