Exhibitions featuring two local artists will be opening at Barton upon Humber’s The Ropewalk arts centre in mid-January.
Textures of Spurn: Works on paper, silk and linen featuring work by textile artist Alice Fox and The Passage of Time with Hull artist Martin Waters will be the first exhibitions in the 2013 programme put together by Exhibitions Officer Richard Hatfield.
Alice has an intense interest in the natural world and in the detail of organic things. Much of her work is currently based on coastal themes and she was artist in residence at Spurn Point National Nature Reserve during 2012.
“Textures of Spurn, being shown in Gallery One, is the body of work resulting from Alice’s project as Artist in Residence at Spurn National Nature Reserve,” said Richard. Over a six-month period during 2012 Alice recorded her experience of Spurn, including the wide horizons, windswept beaches, an abundance of migrating birds and other wildlife, fascinating patterns in mud and sand as the tide constantly ebbs and flows.”
“All these are all elements that make Spurn the special place that it is and which Alice has recorded with her intense interest in the natural world and in the detail of organic things. Her practice brings together observation, recording and interaction with landscape – sustainability is at the heart of her practice,” Richard went on.
Martin’s recent projects have also included a residency at Spurn Point where he collected flotsam and jetsam from the beach and recycled it into art. Much of it was man-made plastics in bright colours that contrasted starkly with the natural environment at Spurn.
“Many may have seen his beachcombing collections on display at The Deep in Hull and his most recent installation at Holy Trinity Church, also in Hull, was a piece entitled Trench featuring over 8500 poppies and was designed to mark Remembrance Day”, Richard continued.
His new exhibition, The Passage of Time, in the Artspace focuses on a more personal history and features many of the artist’s own images and objects.
“Martin aims to document how our experiences change and move within our lifetime,” Richard added.
Both exhibitions open on Saturday January 19. Textures of Spurn continues until Sunday, February 24 while The Passage of Time ends on Sunday March 3.
There is no charge for admission to The Ropewalk galleries which are open from Monday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm and on Sundays and Bank Holidays from 10am to 4pm.
Spring Awakening
In the Box Gallery this month we have been inspired by the weather, and have put together a display celebrating spring. The focus is on the rebirth of nature, selecting pieces which represent the bloom of new flowers and joyous animals. The range of work within the exhibition is from a variety of makers working in different crafts all embodying our theme of spring.
Here is just a selection of the pieces we have on display in the Box Gallery.
Paul Collinson | Gary Saunt | Kat Saunt | Steve Upton
This exhibition shows work by a group of East Yorkshire and Hull based painters whose practice involves, either incidentally or wholly, the used of photography or computer software.
This can be in the organisation of the idea, the capture and use images as subject matter, or in the very creation of the artwork itself.
What all the painters do have in common is that need, the “agitation”, to produce something that has a presence.
Obviously my specialisation is in ceramics, but over the last 3-4 years I have diverged into 2D abstract and flitted back and forth between the two often combining techniques across both. A constant theme throughout has been the printed letter/text and the interplay between positive and negative space therein. The older letter bottles are relief printmaking in clay and from them blossomed the larger industrial 2D abstracts onto old metal shelves and disused wooden pallets. Another ever present has been my trusted blowtorch, which has enabled me to produce interesting surfaces and textures in the clay through forced drying and also letting me introduce dirt into the painted surface in the form of trapped carbon. It is important for me to be true to the material and allow it to be inherent in the final pieces.
Topics and style vary, from heavily textured, distorted pots, to letters bottles discussing elements of jazz, to political and social commentary and stuff about bikes? The large abstracts initially explored the rhythms between the letters but then began to migrate into the self-portrait in the form of big selfies and some of these themes then translated back into the pot form.
Throughout my career my work has cycled back to the same themes – surface and form – and these are essentially what this exhibition is about.
Customisable jewellery by Jackie Selcraig
Jackie Selcraig does not abide by the taught rules of creative design, for her it is very fluid and unstructured. Governed instead by play Jackie begins by siting down and experimenting with the composition of the bits and pieces she has collected over the years. Enjoying mixing colours, textures and materials, the aim is always to create something different, unique and unusual.
Modjool started with the Build Ring, since then, it has grown into a whole family of interactive jewellery, attracting fashion conscious customer eager to take advantage of the versatility of the range. Modjool is a system of statement jewellery, which features ranges which can be worn individually, mixed and matched or combined magnetically. The wearer can adapt the appearance by simply changing colour, shape, size, material or style all within the same jewellery collection.
Shape is bold, geometric, statement jewellery. The pendants can be magnetically attached to any of the colourful Click Range using a special bail.
Build is fun customisable jewellery. The silver ring and necklace base pieces can be transformed by adding a variety of colourful beads and stoppers. You can create a different look every day. Mix the colours up or choose a neutral palette for something more sophisticated.
There’s something about the contrast of textures of the different metals and etched parts that is so compelling. Metal is not always a hard shiny intractable thing – it can have a softer look, have variable colours created by the act of heating, can be a way of drawing in the air.
Jill Stewart was brought up in rural Northumberland, surrounded by nature and colour, always noticing the tiny details that surround us. After city adventures and unsuitable jobs, she started to make things, and developed unique ways of working in brass, copper, silver and titanium. The clocks developed after she was challenged to make larger items than jewellery, and to really develop a colour palette using the effects of heat on different metals. After cutting out the shapes, a large flame is used to solder parts of the design together, but also makes copper go beautiful unpredictable shades of dark red, and changes the look of other metals, especially the etched parts. The handmade look is important, that you can tell an actual person worked closely with their materials here, not absolutely sure how each process would turn out.
Harrison’s Garden
If John Harrison had a garden, how might it have looked?
In 2017, artist Luke Jerram took that thought and turned it into an amazing and imaginative exhibition that has been touring the UK. His idea was to create a ‘an imagined garden’ of clocks clustered into species, forming ‘flowerbeds’, ‘islands’, ‘pathways’ and borders’. Luke’s array of around 3000 timepieces has now visited the beautiful National Trust properties of Nostell Priory, Gunby Hall and Penrhyn Castle.
And in January 2019, Harrison’s Garden will reach its final destination at The Ropewalk. Bringing Harrison’s Garden home has been organised by the Better Barrow Community Project and Luke has kindly offered to donate the clocks to their fundraising cause to erect a statue of John Harrison. The clocks will be auctioned at the end of the exhibition – for further information visit betterbarrow.org
Harrison’s Garden was originally commissioned by Connect! and presented over 5 days at Devon’s Thelma Hulbert Gallery in 2015.
