The scenes of Pacheco’s series of chiarascuro woodcuts, Comedia 1-4, were inspired by the dances and songs of colonial Peru, such as the Son de los diablos. Performed by black dancers during the Catholic Feast of Quasimodo, the Son featured devils, some in the guise of monsters with horns and claws, others wearing grotesque masks, animal skins and feathers. Under the cover of carnival, these transformations and role-reversals (suggested in Pacheco’s prints by the wielding of a whip) represented spirited defiance of an imposed colonial culture and assertion of an independent identity.

The title of this series comes from a line in Federico García Lorca’s 'Ode to Salvador Dalí'. The fragments of text are from one of Lorca’s poems: ‘Dance of Death’.

Whilst drawing has been predominant for a number of years, the monotype process has become an essential part of Lambert’s working practice and the prints continue to have a symbiotic relationship with the drawings. The technique she employs in her monotypes allows her to develop an image on the plate similar to the way her drawings evolve on paper. There is also a close relationship in terms of the various narratives that she develops in her work.

The first of three etchings inspired by deconstructionist ideas - with wear and tear over time, heavily postered and painted walls begin to reveal the underlayers, creating new and bizarre combinations of past and present advertising, graffiti and murals.

Playground Wall 1-3 (second plate)

Playground Wall 1-3 (third plate)