Close up image of gold leaf being applied to an orange section of the hand-printed infinity loop

Making a flowing Infinity Loop

by with No Comment Behind the ScenesNew Work

For the Flow exhibition at Brixton Library, I decided to create a new site-specific installation piece, linked to my series of Fragile Structures. I developed a small scale test infinity loop, or Mobius Strip, to explore the idea of an infinitely fragile looped work, with cut out sections, handprinted on both sides of fine Japanese paper. I wanted to take advantage of the interaction of both sides in the sunlight of the large bright gallery space in Brixton.

‘Infinitely Fragile’ by Carolyn Murphy, an installation view

Previous works in the series have been self-supporting sculptural pieces, such as Towers of Strength, laser cut monotype structures. With this work I wanted to return to the monotype process I used in my Fragile Structure series of 2D prints, but taking this to a different scale and form.

Towers of Strength, by Carolyn Murphy

This post gives some background and process images. And flags some of the challenges too.

I decided to make the work in two sections. Taking on board the idea of infinity, I chose to transition each side of the paper from blue to orange and match the patterns at the two joins. For ease of transport, I only joined the loop on site in Brixton. I used Japanese rice paste as this can be unstuck with water, allowing for de-installation.

Printing the Japanese paper

I learnt a lot in the making, including the following:

  • My small scale maquette was one eighth the width, which turned out to be 61 times smaller in area! Maths…
  • Japanese paper loves to crease – I decided to embrace this by adding gold leaf, that had been donated to me by a friend, referencing the Japanese art of ‘kintsugi’.
  • The monotype stencil process I used requires a degree of ‘going with the flow’, which seemed appropriate tothe them of the show. You are never 100% sure of the outcome, although you can move it in the direction you want.
  • Follow my instincts to do something different – and, as usual, far more complicated than I set out to create!
  • The many ways of displaying a fragile work, in a busy well-used space.

Overall, I was delighted with the outcome and will continue to develop works in this Fragile Structures series.

Adding gold leaf

Blue poster for 'Flow' exhibition

Brixton Library ‘Flow’ exhibition opens

by with No Comment ExhibitionNews

Fankle Art Collective opens its fifth show this month. Fankle member Carolyn Murphy will be exhibiting 2D and 3D works as part of this multi-disciplinary exhibition. Images included here from the private view.

Carolyn Murphy with her works

Flow is a group exhibition by ten artists, working across painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, textiles, ceramics, collage, photography, and film and video. Interpreted by each artist in their own way, Flow suggests motion – where materials, energy, relationships and creative ideas come together and move forward. Fankle artists bring together works that jostle in the stream of the library’s gallery space, sometimes seeking the stillness of the ‘flow state’ itself.

We are reminded that a world of life is woven from strands, flowing, changing and fragile, as Fankle Art Collective members explore evolving ideas around identity and relationships with nature or home, notions of belonging, migration, fragmentation and reconnection.

‘A Scream of Swifts’ by Carolyn Murphy

Carolyn Murphy created two works specifically for the Brixton Library space: ‘Infinitely Fragile’ a 3D print installation, in the form of a Möbius strip, or infinity loop, and ‘A Scream of Swifts’, across all three windows of the Library’s gallery space.

Private View of ‘Flow’

Fankle is a multidisciplinary art collective formed in 2023. The name ‘Fankle’, a Scottish word for entanglement, reflects the complex web of ideas they draw together, as well as the varied generational and geographic origins of Fankle members.

Fankle members and visitors to Flow

Artists exhibiting in Flow: Natalie Dee | Phil Dunn | Freddy McBride | Carolyn Murphy | Moritz Nicolai | Iliana Ortega-Alcázar | Jan Pimblett | Kathy Rooney | Luke Anthony Rooney | Hanan Shakir

For more information, check out www.fankle.art and @fankle.art on Instagram.

This exhibition runs from 3 – 22 June 2026 at Brixton Tate Library, Brixton Oval, London SW2 1JQ

Opening times vary daily: Mondays 1pm – 8pm, Tuesdays 10am – 8pm, Wednesdays 10am – 6pm, Thursdays 10am – 8pm, Fridays 10am – 6pm, Saturdays 9am – 5pm, Sundays 12pm – 5pm.

The Library is close to Brixton underground station (Victoria line).

Image of artist Carolyn Murphy with her work

Printmakers Council show in Oxford

by with No Comment ExhibitionNews

Carolyn Murphy presented a new work at the Printmakers Council’s ‘Green and Pleasant Land’ exhibition at Oxford’s North Wall Art Centre. The show brings together selected landscape inspired work from around 70 members, working across a wide range of print media. The exhibitions runs from May 30 to June 13.

Carolyn Murphy with her work
Private View at North Wall Arts Centre

‘Deep Roots’ is a combined collagraph and linocut print, drawing on the post-industrial Pennine landscape, near Manchester. “In this work I wanted to explore the idea of land as Mother Earth – its exploitation, destruction and resilience. Beautiful areas of the Pennines around Manchester are former industrial sites, where mining ravaged the landscape and people. This semi-abstracted work brings together real landscapes and ideas of land and belonging,” explained Carolyn.

‘Deep Roots’ by Carolyn Murphy

Some images here are from exhibition opening which took place on Saturday May 30 and was very well attended.

North Wall Arts Centre, South Parade, Oxford OX2 7JN.