Bypass I

This is one of a group of works from 1959-60 which mark Clough’s move into abstraction. However, she insisted that all her paintings had their origins “in the richness of the outside world”. Clough took inspiration from many sources and the cellular forms of Bypass 1 could be read as a microscopic cross-section of an organism. Alternatively, it might have a basis in technical diagrams and machine parts which fascinated her at this time. But given the absence of a defined scale in the work, it could also suggest an aerial perspective of a landscape or a map of a large expanse. Clough’s concern was, as she put it, to see the world “as if it were strange and unfamiliar”.