Temper (1991-92)

A sculpture which may relate to a basic element of our psychology. A British sculptor, born in Blackburn, Lancashire, Alison Wilding grew up in St. Ives, Huntingdon. From 1967-70 she studied at Ravensbourne College of Art and Design, Bromley, Kent and from 1970-73 at the Royal College of Art. After leaving the RCA, Wilding incorporated numerous materials into her work, including beeswax, transparent plastics, textiles and a variety of pigments, enabling her to set up contrasts of form and colour. In the summer of 1991 she exhibited ten years’ work at the Tate Gallery Liverpool and five new works at the Henry Moore Sculpture Trust at Dean Clough in Halifax. She chose one of the new works to show at the Turner Prize exhibition in 1992. Her work was short-listed but she did not win the Prize. Temper (1991-92) was made at the time when Wilding’s work was becoming well-known and was bought with the aid of a contribution from the LACF in 1996.