Susan MacWilliam

IT'S curtains for painting with Belfast artist, Susan MacWilliam's cooky but cool show at Project. Curtains features three immense sculptured curtains in different styles, each made up of a series of small canvases covered in mauve, green or blue plasticine.

The presence of a wall behind each curtain would seem to remove any sense of drama, but the vulnerability of the pieces creates some tense anticipation, as each soft fold, pleat and crease seems to invite tactile exploration. In this case, however, renting the veil, or even pushing it aside, would not improve the view. The only possible engagement here is with a set of appealing but essentially flippant surfaces.

MacWilliam's real deftness is her blending of atmospheres and moods. Working with what is - Gromit notwithstanding - a children's material, the artist begins by coaxing viewers into a play world, only to introduce some sharp, sophisticated trickery, and finally even in the middle of her cartoon world, hints of something bleak and funereal.