A special edition of three unique but related works, made by Katie Cuddon in support of her exhibition No Dimensions at Matt's Gallery, 29 January - 23 March 2025.

These three works have been produced individually in sequence. Addressing the challenge of producing three similar but individually made pieces, Cuddon said:
“The 'thingness' of the first becomes the baseline for the second and third. But I have to both remember and forget the first so that the second and third can become themselves.”

The title is drawn from Elizabeth Bishop's poem Chemin de Fer (1946), which includes the line ‘lie like an old tear’. The three works are individually titled Lie like, Like an old, and An old tear.

Cuddon primarily works with clay, sculpting forms that are often pummelled, kneaded and masticated, and sometimes combined with other materials. The surfaces she works with are usually painted rather than glazed.

Cuddon’s work is informed by a psychological understanding of the human condition, not only in her addressing of themes such as motherhood, death and human experience, but in the formal concerns she is preoccupied with. This results in a sense of anxiety in her sculptures, in works that are paradoxically appealing in their ugliness.