TSOTA x CuratorSpace: Meet the Artists (part I)

‘Fish-kite’, Anna Davis

Last week The State of the Arts announced our most recent exciting collaboration with CuratorSpace, launching their first Members Open Exhibition featuring 30 artists whose work varies from painting, collage and drawing to photography, screen-prints and more. Curator Space is a fantastic platform that supports artists, curators and galleries to host exhibitions, fairs and more; we are so excited to be working with them and some incredibly talented up and coming artists in this exclusive exhibition.

One theme covered extensively in the exhibition is our surrounding landscape with artists using unique processes to explore the natural environment. Richard Benbow, Ayna Paisley and Diana Terry focus on the beauty of nature, using vibrant colours to portray their view at its most resplendent.

Diana’s abstract landscapes consist of a variety of media to create heavily textured paintings and collographic prints. Recently, Diana has directly transfused the landscape into her creative process by taking clay impressions of quarry surfaces, resulting in a colourful and impastoed surface that evokes the deep geological memories ingrained in the rocks and hills of the Pennines.

‘Hill Farm in the Valley’, Diana Terry

Similarly Richard’s soft colours and impressionist brush strokes create a peaceful and deep connection with nature; his lyrical watercolours capture the beauty of his surrounding natural landscape.

‘Bridge over Sprodley’, Richard Benbow

Contrasting to the colourful depictions of nature, are Peter Heaton’s striking black and white photographs that create an eerie and powerful image of the landscape as well as Jon Halls’ incredibly intricate drawings of snippets of nature within the suburbs of Leeds, featuring sinuous branches and shimmering reflections within water.

‘Flooded’, Peter Heaton

While Carole King’s stunning silk-screen prints and lino-prints of robins and puffins truly convey the character of each bird (making the perfect gift for the festive season!), more abstract depictions of the natural world also feature within the exhibition. Anna Davis’ beautiful screen-prints show children immersed in nature; revelling in the innocence of youth in interacting with the natural world in inquisitive ways.

‘Robin v2’, Carole King

Sarah Burgess’ series of studies that look at reflection and shadows on a woodland pond create a sense of calm as the mono-type papers and semi-transparent fabric delivers a muted, peaceful tone while the collaged layers and hand stitching conjures a sense of the rippling water.

India Boxall’s mystical monoprints echo this magic within our environment creating a sense of the natural world but with an aura of fantasy, with soft colours and sweeping lines.

Just as the landscape is an important feature within the exhibition, many artists also consider our urban environment with works that reveal it in a new light. Linda Chapman’s eye-catching photography uses reflection, shadow and colour without any manipulation to create arresting images that give us a different view of the reality we see every day.

‘Outside In II’, Linda Chapman

Bill Chambers’ abstract screen-prints portray buildings using exiting patterns and colours, often printed on re-used materials such as old sewing patters.

William Hughes’ uses mixed media within his depictions of the city to explore the fragility of encoded memories. As he continually layers his final piece with a whole host of mediums, William resonates with how memories can become worn, hazed and weathered. Stephen Feather’s lively impressionist-like acrylics capture the bustle of the city with figures making their way through the underground or the flickering lights of the urban skyline.

In contrast to a celebration of the city, Eva Joy Lawrence’s series created in Colonia Guel in suburban Barcelona consider the damaging effects of climate change and urbanisation. Eva draws on top of her photographs to imagine a utopia in which nature fights back.

We hope you enjoy browsing through this inspiring collection of artworks. Head to the TSOTA Gift Shop to immerse yourself within the constellation of themes, mediums and concepts explored by these talented artists. Look out for Meet the Artists Part II to find out more about those participating!