Air of Different Temperatures

Barbara J Graham and Will S Woods

This is the first collaboration between Barbara J Graham and Will S Woods who met at the Arches Studios two years ago. Barbara invents abstract, impossible spaces that feel physical but can only exist in painting; Will’s practice includes making maquettes of invented spaces that contain three-dimensional painting. For The Hidden Wardrobe, they have merged their interests to devise an intervention that treats the interior space of the former shop as a deep canvas.

Air of Different Temperatures re-animates the atmosphere in forgotten corners and considers The Hidden Wardrobe’s current contents not as hidden but as hiding. Objects obscured in storage are cast as performers through shadow play in a translucent, hanging, collage. Sections of painting waft in a breeze, revealing and concealing the space. After dark, oscillating lights cast shadows and scatter through the air, rebounding off the surfaces, through the glass at the front of the shop, and onto the street.

‘Working together has helped us dig deeper in our respective and shared motivational insights. The process marks a freer approach which we both consider as a meaningful step towards new ways of interdependent working.’ 

Air of Different Temperatures will be on display in the windows of the Hidden Wardrobe from Friday 13th December until Sunday 2nd February 2025 and is free to visit.