ALISON JACOBS
www.alisonjacobs.com
[email protected]
@alispangle @alisonjacobspainting
My work is a survey, capture, report and analysis of the landscape I inhabit. A large part of my practice is creating paintings in the field followed by further experimentation in more interpretative, multidisciplinary ways in the studio.
I’m interested in how we see, experience and appreciate our environment. Having studied Geography to degree level followed by a HND in Graphic Design my art is founded in an understanding of landscape, change in space and time and how we represent that and communicate it to others.
I’m inspired by my native coastal Somerset and am fascinated by the timescales and life cycles that are exposed where the land meets the sea.
TRAPPED IN A PRISM OF LIGHT
2023
Kaleidoscopic video
Twin Beaks, Fractured Cliffs, Silent Disco, Fan dance, Symbiosis, Reflections & Shadows. Fragments of the artist's existence reflect and dance together, breaking away and reforming, shimmering and drawing you in.
Twin Beaks - An important part of our time at Ian’s Farm is the life cycle of chickens
Fractured Cliffs - An iPad painting of the Watchet Coast
Silent Disco - Memories of a party captured in Procreate on my iPad
Fan Dance - The Hatch barn extractor fans
Symbiosis - Nettlecombe lichen
Reflections & Shadows - My design of this year’s flyer with photo of Joe’s nest
www.alisonjacobs.com
[email protected]
@alispangle @alisonjacobspainting
My work is a survey, capture, report and analysis of the landscape I inhabit. A large part of my practice is creating paintings in the field followed by further experimentation in more interpretative, multidisciplinary ways in the studio.
I’m interested in how we see, experience and appreciate our environment. Having studied Geography to degree level followed by a HND in Graphic Design my art is founded in an understanding of landscape, change in space and time and how we represent that and communicate it to others.
I’m inspired by my native coastal Somerset and am fascinated by the timescales and life cycles that are exposed where the land meets the sea.
TRAPPED IN A PRISM OF LIGHT
2023
Kaleidoscopic video
Twin Beaks, Fractured Cliffs, Silent Disco, Fan dance, Symbiosis, Reflections & Shadows. Fragments of the artist's existence reflect and dance together, breaking away and reforming, shimmering and drawing you in.
Twin Beaks - An important part of our time at Ian’s Farm is the life cycle of chickens
Fractured Cliffs - An iPad painting of the Watchet Coast
Silent Disco - Memories of a party captured in Procreate on my iPad
Fan Dance - The Hatch barn extractor fans
Symbiosis - Nettlecombe lichen
Reflections & Shadows - My design of this year’s flyer with photo of Joe’s nest
AMANDA SHEARS
www.ajsdesigns.org.uk
[email protected]
@amandajshears_art
My practice covers painting, sculpture, installation, film and performance dance. I love to be experimental. ‘I do not create what I see, I create how I feel.’
Making site specific installations fill me with nervous tension and excitement. I always start with a concept that develops through conversation, research, trial and much error. The form and the medium often change. I try to use material that I have or that I find, that I beg or borrow.
I work from the subconscious allowing the esoteric nature to develop freely and believe that every curve and line drawn or sculpted has a purpose. I sculpt with wood and stone using traditional methods, I allow the grain of the wood and the curve of the stone to dictate form. Abstraction. Large canvases. Colour. Charcoal.
Being part of a local community of artists and creatives is important to me as is collaborating on projects. Bringing a message through art, experiences, friendships is part of the fun, and being a creative is all about having fun. I make art to engage reaction and emotion, to question life. So, react… feel emotion and feel free!
THE SHADOW WITHIN
2023
Installation
I am intrigued by shadow and where it falls. Where does shadow go when staring into a pond? What lies below the surface?
As always, I YouTubed the subject obsessively. What sprang to the surface was shadow work and the deep shadows that lie within us all. I discovered the works of Carl Jung. I discussed the subject with my mother who strangely had researched Carl Jung at my age in 1999. She found her notes from that time from his book the ‘Psychology of Reflections’. Shadow work represents the repression of emotions and feelings that aren’t considered socially acceptable, e.g. jealousy, anger, hatred, animalistic. Acceptance of such emotions, harnessing and channeling them so that they do not consume us.
The barn’s history is full of shadows and reflected light. I wanted to merge this history with the concept of dealing with our own shadows within and decided to create a giant papier maché head and mask. The white exterior in contrast to the shadowy dark charcoal drawings behind and within taken from my unconscious. I invite you to enter inside my head and to invoke your own emotive experience
www.ajsdesigns.org.uk
[email protected]
@amandajshears_art
My practice covers painting, sculpture, installation, film and performance dance. I love to be experimental. ‘I do not create what I see, I create how I feel.’
Making site specific installations fill me with nervous tension and excitement. I always start with a concept that develops through conversation, research, trial and much error. The form and the medium often change. I try to use material that I have or that I find, that I beg or borrow.
I work from the subconscious allowing the esoteric nature to develop freely and believe that every curve and line drawn or sculpted has a purpose. I sculpt with wood and stone using traditional methods, I allow the grain of the wood and the curve of the stone to dictate form. Abstraction. Large canvases. Colour. Charcoal.
Being part of a local community of artists and creatives is important to me as is collaborating on projects. Bringing a message through art, experiences, friendships is part of the fun, and being a creative is all about having fun. I make art to engage reaction and emotion, to question life. So, react… feel emotion and feel free!
THE SHADOW WITHIN
2023
Installation
I am intrigued by shadow and where it falls. Where does shadow go when staring into a pond? What lies below the surface?
As always, I YouTubed the subject obsessively. What sprang to the surface was shadow work and the deep shadows that lie within us all. I discovered the works of Carl Jung. I discussed the subject with my mother who strangely had researched Carl Jung at my age in 1999. She found her notes from that time from his book the ‘Psychology of Reflections’. Shadow work represents the repression of emotions and feelings that aren’t considered socially acceptable, e.g. jealousy, anger, hatred, animalistic. Acceptance of such emotions, harnessing and channeling them so that they do not consume us.
The barn’s history is full of shadows and reflected light. I wanted to merge this history with the concept of dealing with our own shadows within and decided to create a giant papier maché head and mask. The white exterior in contrast to the shadowy dark charcoal drawings behind and within taken from my unconscious. I invite you to enter inside my head and to invoke your own emotive experience
ANTONIA MYATT
www.antoniamyatt.weebly.com
[email protected]
@antoniamyattcorr
I studied photography in Kent ('93 – '95) then printmaking at Somerset College of Art & Design. I went on to Slade in London for a course in painting and then spent the next six years deep in the heart of Somerset where I painted the surrounding countryside.
In 2001 I moved my studio to Southern Spain where I lived on a self-sufficient small-holding. This allowed me the time to learn my lessons, to paint freely and try & find my own style of painting. My dreamlike pictures reflect my diverse lifestyle and my vivid appreciation
of colour and light owe a lot to my early years spent in Oman and my travels since.
Now living & working in Somerton, I have my studio in the garden by the frog pond!
I am preparing for Somerset Arts Week open studio. September 17th -1st October
THE HATCH FAMILY
2023 Oil on canvas
A group of trees representing the individual artists with their reflections intertwined.
DRIED THISTLES. SPAIN.
2018 Oil on canvas
PARIS BRIDGE
2016 Oil on canvas
www.antoniamyatt.weebly.com
[email protected]
@antoniamyattcorr
I studied photography in Kent ('93 – '95) then printmaking at Somerset College of Art & Design. I went on to Slade in London for a course in painting and then spent the next six years deep in the heart of Somerset where I painted the surrounding countryside.
In 2001 I moved my studio to Southern Spain where I lived on a self-sufficient small-holding. This allowed me the time to learn my lessons, to paint freely and try & find my own style of painting. My dreamlike pictures reflect my diverse lifestyle and my vivid appreciation
of colour and light owe a lot to my early years spent in Oman and my travels since.
Now living & working in Somerton, I have my studio in the garden by the frog pond!
I am preparing for Somerset Arts Week open studio. September 17th -1st October
THE HATCH FAMILY
2023 Oil on canvas
A group of trees representing the individual artists with their reflections intertwined.
DRIED THISTLES. SPAIN.
2018 Oil on canvas
PARIS BRIDGE
2016 Oil on canvas
COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS
AMANDA SHEARS & ELAOISE BENSON
SHADOW, WHO ARE YOU?
2023
Film Projection
Inspired by previous shadow performance, the barn lends itself to shadows and strong light contrast. Its ability to change the seemingly humorous, fun aspect of life into a strange, otherworldly context is evident in this filmed performance.
We filmed the performance in one take on a very cold February afternoon experimenting with how we could play with each other’s shadow. By doing this we found a story emerged whereby our shadows found each other in the darkness, grew to connect with each other and began to play as their confidence grew.
Ian McNab has a cameo role.
AMANDA SHEARS & ELAOISE BENSON
SHADOW, WHO ARE YOU?
2023
Film Projection
Inspired by previous shadow performance, the barn lends itself to shadows and strong light contrast. Its ability to change the seemingly humorous, fun aspect of life into a strange, otherworldly context is evident in this filmed performance.
We filmed the performance in one take on a very cold February afternoon experimenting with how we could play with each other’s shadow. By doing this we found a story emerged whereby our shadows found each other in the darkness, grew to connect with each other and began to play as their confidence grew.
Ian McNab has a cameo role.
DEBBI SUTTON
www.suttononsutton.com
[email protected]
@SuttonOnSutton
I am a maverick, my artwork crosses boundaries and genres. It can be sculpture, installation, performance, creative writing, drawing, photography and Zen calligraphy. My work defies a singular description and can be viewed on many levels. You can enjoy it at face value, or unpick the layers of meaning. It is complex and simple, generated through serious and playful exploration. An idea, such as Shadow and Reflection and a space like the former Chicken Barn sends my mind tumbling down a rabbit hole of creativity.
I have always highlighted and celebrated the unseen. For ‘Janus of the Well’, a largely ignored fallen wall in the Taunton Museum courtyard is given a grass shadow and mirrors… The wall, largely overlooked by the passers-by; is the Grade 1 listed remnant of the 12th century Castle.
Currently, my work goes beyond response to invention. I created a floating circle of rainbow-coloured mirrors to celebrate Taunton Pride in the Mill Stream for ‘Mirroring an Inclusive Sky’, creating a delightfully contemplative moment for passers by and ducks. The mirrors now filter and reflect light to produce the dragonfly’s pool in this exhibition.
Being Neuro Atypical, I do not fit neat boxes personally or artistically. That is my special power.
JANUS AND THE DRAGONFLY
2023
Installation - Mirrors, Reflections and Shadows
‘Janus and the Dragonfly’ consists of three elements, the shadow of a dragonfly, a string of double-sided mirrors and a pool of reflected rainbow colours. The work represents past, present and future.
The Past – the Dragonfly, a prehistoric creature is the shadow of a puppet created for Hatch’s Last Fashion Show on Earth in 2020
The Present – Janus, the two-headed god of new beginnings, often depicted as heads either side of a doorway, is represented by a string of double-sided mirrors suspended. In them you see the present reflected.
The Future – Reflected colours create a pool for the dragonfly. They are the rainbow colours of inclusion, representing a hopeful future.
www.suttononsutton.com
[email protected]
@SuttonOnSutton
I am a maverick, my artwork crosses boundaries and genres. It can be sculpture, installation, performance, creative writing, drawing, photography and Zen calligraphy. My work defies a singular description and can be viewed on many levels. You can enjoy it at face value, or unpick the layers of meaning. It is complex and simple, generated through serious and playful exploration. An idea, such as Shadow and Reflection and a space like the former Chicken Barn sends my mind tumbling down a rabbit hole of creativity.
I have always highlighted and celebrated the unseen. For ‘Janus of the Well’, a largely ignored fallen wall in the Taunton Museum courtyard is given a grass shadow and mirrors… The wall, largely overlooked by the passers-by; is the Grade 1 listed remnant of the 12th century Castle.
Currently, my work goes beyond response to invention. I created a floating circle of rainbow-coloured mirrors to celebrate Taunton Pride in the Mill Stream for ‘Mirroring an Inclusive Sky’, creating a delightfully contemplative moment for passers by and ducks. The mirrors now filter and reflect light to produce the dragonfly’s pool in this exhibition.
Being Neuro Atypical, I do not fit neat boxes personally or artistically. That is my special power.
JANUS AND THE DRAGONFLY
2023
Installation - Mirrors, Reflections and Shadows
‘Janus and the Dragonfly’ consists of three elements, the shadow of a dragonfly, a string of double-sided mirrors and a pool of reflected rainbow colours. The work represents past, present and future.
The Past – the Dragonfly, a prehistoric creature is the shadow of a puppet created for Hatch’s Last Fashion Show on Earth in 2020
The Present – Janus, the two-headed god of new beginnings, often depicted as heads either side of a doorway, is represented by a string of double-sided mirrors suspended. In them you see the present reflected.
The Future – Reflected colours create a pool for the dragonfly. They are the rainbow colours of inclusion, representing a hopeful future.
ELAOISE BENSON
www.ebensonart.co.uk
[email protected]
@ebenson_art
I am a multi-disciplinary artist, working across painting, poetry, film and dance. My practice explores the notions of feminism, love and environmentalism. And I ask the viewer to reflect on what role they might play within these large, scary and often complex social issues.
Recently, my practice has drawn inspiration from the Somerset countryside, my paintings start from sketches made in the landscape. The visual image becomes further abstracted as I move from one medium to another, denoting the endless possibilities of our encounter with nature. Through the time taken to translate my experience into an image, the experience, and memory of the landscape itself, continues to change.
I hope that if we establish better connections with our local environment, and recognise its importance on our spiritual and emotional wellbeing, this will provide a core foundation for fighting Climate Change on a larger scale. My interest in the intersections of love, nature and activism was amplified after the loss of my Mother in 2022, as I have found that nature can become a place of healing and spiritual restoration.
WISHING WELL
2023
Wood sculpture, acrylic and mirrors.
The wishing well is an ancient symbol, a place of reflection where one can come to cast away their sorrows and dream for a brighter future. Historically, water has been the site of spiritual cleansing and rituals, as well as a symbol of purity and good health. The well would’ve been a meeting place within a local community. And so now I offer it as a place for us to reconnect with nature. I created the work to be a place of both visual and emotional reflection. The mural which wraps around the well is an imagined landscape, using references from my own walks in the countryside. I ask you the viewer to reflect on the world around us - what future do you wish to see made real? Once you have a wish, drop a treasure into the well, and watch the magic it creates.
www.ebensonart.co.uk
[email protected]
@ebenson_art
I am a multi-disciplinary artist, working across painting, poetry, film and dance. My practice explores the notions of feminism, love and environmentalism. And I ask the viewer to reflect on what role they might play within these large, scary and often complex social issues.
Recently, my practice has drawn inspiration from the Somerset countryside, my paintings start from sketches made in the landscape. The visual image becomes further abstracted as I move from one medium to another, denoting the endless possibilities of our encounter with nature. Through the time taken to translate my experience into an image, the experience, and memory of the landscape itself, continues to change.
I hope that if we establish better connections with our local environment, and recognise its importance on our spiritual and emotional wellbeing, this will provide a core foundation for fighting Climate Change on a larger scale. My interest in the intersections of love, nature and activism was amplified after the loss of my Mother in 2022, as I have found that nature can become a place of healing and spiritual restoration.
WISHING WELL
2023
Wood sculpture, acrylic and mirrors.
The wishing well is an ancient symbol, a place of reflection where one can come to cast away their sorrows and dream for a brighter future. Historically, water has been the site of spiritual cleansing and rituals, as well as a symbol of purity and good health. The well would’ve been a meeting place within a local community. And so now I offer it as a place for us to reconnect with nature. I created the work to be a place of both visual and emotional reflection. The mural which wraps around the well is an imagined landscape, using references from my own walks in the countryside. I ask you the viewer to reflect on the world around us - what future do you wish to see made real? Once you have a wish, drop a treasure into the well, and watch the magic it creates.
GEORGINA TOWLER
www.georginatowler.com
[email protected]
@georgina_towler
My practice as a painter is the result of the intense observation of place, space and light. It’s about capturing the reality of seeing, all those points where feeling and looking intertwine.
For me the act of painting is an act of seeking balance; it’s not about being one or another it’s about being both - where the collision of counterparts creates calm. Where emotions meet senses, light meets dark, soft meets sharp, dynamic meets constant.
Unpicking and fragmenting the visual plane, my works deconstruct the way light creates form, colour constructs space and shadow forms edges; juxtaposing the freedom of the painterly mark against hard edge forms.
IT’S LOOKING RIGHT BACK AT YOU
2023
Film Projection – 4 min 44 sec
‘It’s looking right back at you’ captures me taking a painting for a walk through the landscape that inspired its creation. Because your past reflections and your future shadows are all there in the mirror of life; looking right back at you.
www.georginatowler.com
[email protected]
@georgina_towler
My practice as a painter is the result of the intense observation of place, space and light. It’s about capturing the reality of seeing, all those points where feeling and looking intertwine.
For me the act of painting is an act of seeking balance; it’s not about being one or another it’s about being both - where the collision of counterparts creates calm. Where emotions meet senses, light meets dark, soft meets sharp, dynamic meets constant.
Unpicking and fragmenting the visual plane, my works deconstruct the way light creates form, colour constructs space and shadow forms edges; juxtaposing the freedom of the painterly mark against hard edge forms.
IT’S LOOKING RIGHT BACK AT YOU
2023
Film Projection – 4 min 44 sec
‘It’s looking right back at you’ captures me taking a painting for a walk through the landscape that inspired its creation. Because your past reflections and your future shadows are all there in the mirror of life; looking right back at you.
GRACE GREEN
www.gracegreenartist.com
[email protected]
@gracegreeartist
I find wonder in nature, growth and the planting of seeds, representing organic growth as an immersive experience with emphasis on the interdependence of humankind and nature. Occasionally a figure in present working the land. Within my work there is the pressing concern for the need to find balance. I want to unearth the unexpressed, relive memories, and explore my mind’s eye, using paint as my language.
I work predominantly in acrylic and oil pastel using a variety of paint applications to reveal the fine detail I notice when looking closely at a flower or a leaf, alternatively paint is swept as the light hits the land to create patchworks of texture. Washes of paint like the tide or flow of a river, letting nature guide me. I attempt to create unity and harmony in all senses of the word.
Colour is paramount both referentially and in its pure, abstract state.
TYNDALL EFFECT
2023
Installation
The Birch tree is a symbol of rebirth, new beginnings and growth. It is almost always one of the first species to regrow in places of tragedy, a forest fire and even after the great ice age. It can thrive in harsh conditions of low nutrient soils and colder climates. It’s also one of the first trees to regrow leaves after the depths of winter bringing us into the new life of spring.
There is a Silver Birch in the garden of the home I grew up. I am feeling reflective on my childhood home and garden as my parents begin to move house. The Silver Birch sits fondly in my memories and has grown alongside me. It was once the ‘Easter egg tree’ where the Easter Bunny left chocolate eggs hung on its bending branches growing down just as its Spring catkins begin to shoot. It has always been where our hammock hangs in the summer months, I have spent a lot of time looking up at the canopy above.
My work in the barn is a projection of colour and light using an old photographic enlarger. I have painted Birch trees to reflect my fondness of them.
www.gracegreenartist.com
[email protected]
@gracegreeartist
I find wonder in nature, growth and the planting of seeds, representing organic growth as an immersive experience with emphasis on the interdependence of humankind and nature. Occasionally a figure in present working the land. Within my work there is the pressing concern for the need to find balance. I want to unearth the unexpressed, relive memories, and explore my mind’s eye, using paint as my language.
I work predominantly in acrylic and oil pastel using a variety of paint applications to reveal the fine detail I notice when looking closely at a flower or a leaf, alternatively paint is swept as the light hits the land to create patchworks of texture. Washes of paint like the tide or flow of a river, letting nature guide me. I attempt to create unity and harmony in all senses of the word.
Colour is paramount both referentially and in its pure, abstract state.
TYNDALL EFFECT
2023
Installation
The Birch tree is a symbol of rebirth, new beginnings and growth. It is almost always one of the first species to regrow in places of tragedy, a forest fire and even after the great ice age. It can thrive in harsh conditions of low nutrient soils and colder climates. It’s also one of the first trees to regrow leaves after the depths of winter bringing us into the new life of spring.
There is a Silver Birch in the garden of the home I grew up. I am feeling reflective on my childhood home and garden as my parents begin to move house. The Silver Birch sits fondly in my memories and has grown alongside me. It was once the ‘Easter egg tree’ where the Easter Bunny left chocolate eggs hung on its bending branches growing down just as its Spring catkins begin to shoot. It has always been where our hammock hangs in the summer months, I have spent a lot of time looking up at the canopy above.
My work in the barn is a projection of colour and light using an old photographic enlarger. I have painted Birch trees to reflect my fondness of them.
KRISTEN LINDOP
www.kristenlindop.org
[email protected]
@kristenlindopart
I am a visual artist, painting with inks and acrylics and creating installations pieces using reclaimed, re-used and recycled materials.
My work explores ‘nature-connection’ and neurodivergence, which I experience as closely entwined.
Painting expressively, I capture the character and movement of wildlife that I have spent time with during explorations of nature. These paintings are also my chance to recreate and share the sense of joy and connection I feel in these moments.
Currently, I am developing 3D expressions of these sensory experiences. The installations provide new scope for expression of a wider range of neurodivergent experience; in relation to wildlife, the environment and people.
BELONGING
2023
Installation - Re-used Green Party campaign signage (Corex corrugated plastic board); reclaimed copper telephone wire; recycled paper; re-used stretch cotton; wooden posts to be re-used for building; low-energy lighting.
‘Belonging’ uses cut-outs and shadows to express connection and separation, serenity and overwhelm.
This piece extends sharing my experiences of embodied sensory responses to ‘nature- connection’ from my 2D painting practice into a large 3D space. It also explores more challenging aspects of neurodivergent experience, such as camouflaging and social anxiety. Like many other neurodivergent people, being alone in nature is one of the rare times I feel able to fully unmask and allow myself complete sensory immersion. Another is when I am alone and creating art.
Inspiration for the imagery comes from birdwatching on the Somerset Levels and artworks, including Matisse’s cut-outs (1936-1954) and Pipilotti Rist’s ‘Mercy Garden’ (2014).
As the lighting changes, positive and negative shadows create moving murmurations of starlings and increasing and decreasing numbers of ‘people’. The starlings are shown around and within the figures, symbolising external and internal connection to nature. The juxtaposition of birds that live in large social groups with single figures and ‘crowds’ of people also draws attention to the complexity and range of human experience in relation to the presence others.
www.kristenlindop.org
[email protected]
@kristenlindopart
I am a visual artist, painting with inks and acrylics and creating installations pieces using reclaimed, re-used and recycled materials.
My work explores ‘nature-connection’ and neurodivergence, which I experience as closely entwined.
Painting expressively, I capture the character and movement of wildlife that I have spent time with during explorations of nature. These paintings are also my chance to recreate and share the sense of joy and connection I feel in these moments.
Currently, I am developing 3D expressions of these sensory experiences. The installations provide new scope for expression of a wider range of neurodivergent experience; in relation to wildlife, the environment and people.
BELONGING
2023
Installation - Re-used Green Party campaign signage (Corex corrugated plastic board); reclaimed copper telephone wire; recycled paper; re-used stretch cotton; wooden posts to be re-used for building; low-energy lighting.
‘Belonging’ uses cut-outs and shadows to express connection and separation, serenity and overwhelm.
This piece extends sharing my experiences of embodied sensory responses to ‘nature- connection’ from my 2D painting practice into a large 3D space. It also explores more challenging aspects of neurodivergent experience, such as camouflaging and social anxiety. Like many other neurodivergent people, being alone in nature is one of the rare times I feel able to fully unmask and allow myself complete sensory immersion. Another is when I am alone and creating art.
Inspiration for the imagery comes from birdwatching on the Somerset Levels and artworks, including Matisse’s cut-outs (1936-1954) and Pipilotti Rist’s ‘Mercy Garden’ (2014).
As the lighting changes, positive and negative shadows create moving murmurations of starlings and increasing and decreasing numbers of ‘people’. The starlings are shown around and within the figures, symbolising external and internal connection to nature. The juxtaposition of birds that live in large social groups with single figures and ‘crowds’ of people also draws attention to the complexity and range of human experience in relation to the presence others.
LISA BENSON
www.lisabensonart.co.uk
[email protected]
@artylisab
I am an artist and printmaker living on the North West Somerset coast.
After a career that included being a Youth Arts Co-Ordinator for South West Surrey, illustrating for a national magazine, and several years as a freelance graphic designer, I finally discovered printmaking in 2017.
When I found printmaking something clicked, this was the artistic discipline I had been searching for all those years. There are so many ways to realise a print, process is key, there can be experiments at every step and continual problem solving is often required. The possibility of repetition allows for different outcomes and there is a level of precision amongst the chaos which holds it all together. The thrill of pulling a print never seems to get old.
I am hugely drawn to nature, as so many of us are. Time has become a recurring theme in my work and I find I am often drawn to moments in time that happen today as they could have for hundreds if not thousands of years.
IN THE MOMENT
2023
Installation - Monoprints on paper with mirrors.
For me this installation was an opportunity to take prints out of the framed environment and reimagine their hanging to create an interactive space. Each piece is a monoprint that was printed on a kitchen table top, literally!
When you stand within the work both your shadow and your reflection become a part of the landscape. The landscape itself depicts an equinox, one of which coincides with this exhibition. The sun and the moon appear in the sky at the same time, the moon reflects the sun’s light, a light from which we get shadows.
This work reflects on just how much of a part of our landscape we are. Our shadow can be the beneficial shade from a hot day or the dark foreboding shadow of our nightmares.
www.lisabensonart.co.uk
[email protected]
@artylisab
I am an artist and printmaker living on the North West Somerset coast.
After a career that included being a Youth Arts Co-Ordinator for South West Surrey, illustrating for a national magazine, and several years as a freelance graphic designer, I finally discovered printmaking in 2017.
When I found printmaking something clicked, this was the artistic discipline I had been searching for all those years. There are so many ways to realise a print, process is key, there can be experiments at every step and continual problem solving is often required. The possibility of repetition allows for different outcomes and there is a level of precision amongst the chaos which holds it all together. The thrill of pulling a print never seems to get old.
I am hugely drawn to nature, as so many of us are. Time has become a recurring theme in my work and I find I am often drawn to moments in time that happen today as they could have for hundreds if not thousands of years.
IN THE MOMENT
2023
Installation - Monoprints on paper with mirrors.
For me this installation was an opportunity to take prints out of the framed environment and reimagine their hanging to create an interactive space. Each piece is a monoprint that was printed on a kitchen table top, literally!
When you stand within the work both your shadow and your reflection become a part of the landscape. The landscape itself depicts an equinox, one of which coincides with this exhibition. The sun and the moon appear in the sky at the same time, the moon reflects the sun’s light, a light from which we get shadows.
This work reflects on just how much of a part of our landscape we are. Our shadow can be the beneficial shade from a hot day or the dark foreboding shadow of our nightmares.
MARK FREESTONE
[email protected]
I am a poet concerned with the crystallisation of thoughts into words. Influenced by Haiku, I endeavour to refine each poem with re-writes until only the essence of the thought remains.
Additionally, I am interested in how phonology and rhythm work within the performed poetic form. The human voice is the most expressive instrument in our panoply. When these words are then juxtaposed onto a physical object, be it as simple as a roll of paper, or a piece of furniture, they take on added resonance and meaning.
RE-VERSE
2023
Words/Mirror/Light
We can’t see ourselves unless it’s either a reflection or through a lens. Where is our true self? In addition, our image changes with the light; constantly changing. Ghosts ceased to exist with the invention of the electric light bulb…the truth lies in the half-light…the shadow…the flickers. People say “it’s just your imagination” as if imagination isn’t real, however imagination struggles in surgical light.
[email protected]
I am a poet concerned with the crystallisation of thoughts into words. Influenced by Haiku, I endeavour to refine each poem with re-writes until only the essence of the thought remains.
Additionally, I am interested in how phonology and rhythm work within the performed poetic form. The human voice is the most expressive instrument in our panoply. When these words are then juxtaposed onto a physical object, be it as simple as a roll of paper, or a piece of furniture, they take on added resonance and meaning.
RE-VERSE
2023
Words/Mirror/Light
We can’t see ourselves unless it’s either a reflection or through a lens. Where is our true self? In addition, our image changes with the light; constantly changing. Ghosts ceased to exist with the invention of the electric light bulb…the truth lies in the half-light…the shadow…the flickers. People say “it’s just your imagination” as if imagination isn’t real, however imagination struggles in surgical light.
MELANIE DEEGAN
www.melaniedeegan.com
[email protected]
@melaniedeegan
Experimenting with different materials and techniques for well over a decade has enabled me to developed a method of working that lends itself to the creation of dynamic physical designs.
Mainly using wire and steel to draw the image in 3D this sketch is then developed to add the texture and detail that will evolve into a finished sculpture. Often resulting in energetic and fragmented forms I like the inclusion of space to invite the viewer to engage, using their imagination to fill the void.
Based at a studio in Watchet’s new East Quay building my practice includes private commissions, working with galleries and teaching sculpture. I have been involved in the Hatch art project since it began in 2020.
WHERE ARE WE NOW
2023
Sculpture - Cardboard, reflective sheeting, paint and PVA
In the summer of 2020, the idea of Hatch evolved from our need as artists to create work and share ideas as we tried to find our feet in the unfamiliar world created by the pandemic. Our first exhibition was a reaction to both the building and the way that Covid had impacted us, influenced our art, changed the way we saw the world. I created a series of sculptures titled Shadows of Ourselves. The figures in this were all isolated and in the dark, reflecting on the way that social distancing had profoundly changed the way we interacted with each other.
Where are we Now is a development of this idea. For some people the past few years have been like a strange dream and although changed we have largely returned to our previous way of behaving. For others the impact has been more significant with possibly a long-term effect on interaction with friends, relatives and the wider population. The sculptures still exist in the shadow from the pandemic but have an alternative surface inviting us to consider how we have been changed and reflecting on where we are now.
www.melaniedeegan.com
[email protected]
@melaniedeegan
Experimenting with different materials and techniques for well over a decade has enabled me to developed a method of working that lends itself to the creation of dynamic physical designs.
Mainly using wire and steel to draw the image in 3D this sketch is then developed to add the texture and detail that will evolve into a finished sculpture. Often resulting in energetic and fragmented forms I like the inclusion of space to invite the viewer to engage, using their imagination to fill the void.
Based at a studio in Watchet’s new East Quay building my practice includes private commissions, working with galleries and teaching sculpture. I have been involved in the Hatch art project since it began in 2020.
WHERE ARE WE NOW
2023
Sculpture - Cardboard, reflective sheeting, paint and PVA
In the summer of 2020, the idea of Hatch evolved from our need as artists to create work and share ideas as we tried to find our feet in the unfamiliar world created by the pandemic. Our first exhibition was a reaction to both the building and the way that Covid had impacted us, influenced our art, changed the way we saw the world. I created a series of sculptures titled Shadows of Ourselves. The figures in this were all isolated and in the dark, reflecting on the way that social distancing had profoundly changed the way we interacted with each other.
Where are we Now is a development of this idea. For some people the past few years have been like a strange dream and although changed we have largely returned to our previous way of behaving. For others the impact has been more significant with possibly a long-term effect on interaction with friends, relatives and the wider population. The sculptures still exist in the shadow from the pandemic but have an alternative surface inviting us to consider how we have been changed and reflecting on where we are now.
MELANIE THOMPSON
[email protected]
@melart55
I have been active as an interdisciplinary artist and lecturer for 40 years. After studying Theatre and Dance at Dartington College of Arts, I later did an M.A in Fine Art in Context at U.W.E.
I have initiated and been commissioned to create original art projects involving installation, performance and collaboration all over the world.
I am mostly interested now in creating site specific works in non-art locations. I have recently returned from creating in collaboration, an interactive performance work in a public garden in Mexico.
SOUND TRACKS AND FLAGS
2023
Video Installation
Shadows and reflections - When I returned from Mexico this February with tons of shot video which were about observations of the town I lived in for a month, I realised that I had filmed a lot of flags and their shadows and immediately felt I could make a short film for this exhibition.
The reflections for me is the sound which echo throughout like water and also the memories I am left with from the trip.
[email protected]
@melart55
I have been active as an interdisciplinary artist and lecturer for 40 years. After studying Theatre and Dance at Dartington College of Arts, I later did an M.A in Fine Art in Context at U.W.E.
I have initiated and been commissioned to create original art projects involving installation, performance and collaboration all over the world.
I am mostly interested now in creating site specific works in non-art locations. I have recently returned from creating in collaboration, an interactive performance work in a public garden in Mexico.
SOUND TRACKS AND FLAGS
2023
Video Installation
Shadows and reflections - When I returned from Mexico this February with tons of shot video which were about observations of the town I lived in for a month, I realised that I had filmed a lot of flags and their shadows and immediately felt I could make a short film for this exhibition.
The reflections for me is the sound which echo throughout like water and also the memories I am left with from the trip.
NINA GRONW-LEWIS
www.ninagronw-lewis.co.uk
[email protected]
@ninagronwlewis
My chosen raw materials are low tech and domestic; rope, wool, string, fabric, paper and found objects. My practice consists of manipulating and subverting their former use. Employing techniques like knitting, knotting and crochet, I allow my instinctive way of working to lead the process, deconstructing in order to reconstruct.
GATHERING
2023
Mixed media
The word shadow is not only used to describe an area of darkness but also someone who follows another person everywhere. This led me to thinking about the human belief in and worship of superhuman powers and/or gods and the objects and architecture we employ. Alters, symbols and talismans, objects ascribed with magical powers to protect and heal. Portable objects which can be carried or displayed.
GATHERING when viewed in this space can be at once menacing and playful. Tactile sculptures with their construction left visible, revealing their inexpensive, domestic materials: cardboard, fabric, wool, ribbon and garden cane.
www.ninagronw-lewis.co.uk
[email protected]
@ninagronwlewis
My chosen raw materials are low tech and domestic; rope, wool, string, fabric, paper and found objects. My practice consists of manipulating and subverting their former use. Employing techniques like knitting, knotting and crochet, I allow my instinctive way of working to lead the process, deconstructing in order to reconstruct.
GATHERING
2023
Mixed media
The word shadow is not only used to describe an area of darkness but also someone who follows another person everywhere. This led me to thinking about the human belief in and worship of superhuman powers and/or gods and the objects and architecture we employ. Alters, symbols and talismans, objects ascribed with magical powers to protect and heal. Portable objects which can be carried or displayed.
GATHERING when viewed in this space can be at once menacing and playful. Tactile sculptures with their construction left visible, revealing their inexpensive, domestic materials: cardboard, fabric, wool, ribbon and garden cane.
PHIL NICHOLAS
www.soundcloud.com/phil-nicholas
[email protected]
I am a music artist who has been composing and producing for many years. I have written and produced 14 albums for Universal Production Music for use in films, documentaries, and campaigns, around the world. I also work with Garifuna musicians and producers in Belize.
I have always been inspired to combine fast developing music technology to better manifest the sound experience I create.
SONIC SHADOWS
2023
Sound Installation
This is a multi-speaker piece which I wrote and produced for this Hatch show – Reflections & Shadows. It is the illusion of sound being reflected and mirrored in different spaces. It is audio reflection and sound shadows.
The music works in 3-dimensional space it will change with you, as you walk round the gallery.
I mixed the sounds in my studio, then transferred the files to my laptop. I used a multi-channel audio device to be able to direct certain musical phrases to particular speakers over the six speaker-system installed here.
www.soundcloud.com/phil-nicholas
[email protected]
I am a music artist who has been composing and producing for many years. I have written and produced 14 albums for Universal Production Music for use in films, documentaries, and campaigns, around the world. I also work with Garifuna musicians and producers in Belize.
I have always been inspired to combine fast developing music technology to better manifest the sound experience I create.
SONIC SHADOWS
2023
Sound Installation
This is a multi-speaker piece which I wrote and produced for this Hatch show – Reflections & Shadows. It is the illusion of sound being reflected and mirrored in different spaces. It is audio reflection and sound shadows.
The music works in 3-dimensional space it will change with you, as you walk round the gallery.
I mixed the sounds in my studio, then transferred the files to my laptop. I used a multi-channel audio device to be able to direct certain musical phrases to particular speakers over the six speaker-system installed here.
TINA SALVIDGE
www.tinasalvidge.co.uk
[email protected]
@salvidgetina4
I am a multi-disciplinary artist based in Somerset, and graduated from UWE with a First-Class Degree in Fine Art and Visual Culture in 2020. I increasingly create mixed media work alongside my film and audio work, and have recently become fascinated with clay as an artistic medium concurrent with my digital practice.
At Hatch I am exploring ceramic objects and artist film within my installation. I am constantly seeking out both the obvious and the hidden connections between ideas and tangible objects. This often leads to a disjunction or disorientation within my work alongside a hint of melancholia (without being nostalgic).
This is how I see the world around me, which I express in my short films using both found and own filmed footage. Music as a soundtrack is also an important part of my work and past improvised community projects have often reflected this.
I enjoy working within my local community on socially engaged projects, collaborating, sharing skills and curating exhibitions.
REFLECTIONS AND SHADOWS
2022 - 2023
Installation – video (17 minutes loop), ceramics, lighting and found objects.
This exhibition piece emerged from research into our understanding of “reflections” and “shadows” in differing contexts. From the tongue in cheek gaming sequence of Empire of the Shadows, the landing sites of an Apollo mission charted in shadow on the Moon, through to the natural shadows and reflections of people/puppets /Nature as well verbal “reflections” on the nature of art and the political “reflection” on Trumps election the piece explores through juxtaposition of image and sound the multi-faceted theme of the Hatch exhibition.
During the editing process I was continually drawn back to travel and reflections of various places I had visited and often viewed through train windows and their reflections. Creating a sense of voyeurism and internal dialogue (although the film is played on a loop, to be joined at any stage), the natural progression is through chaos to calm and the installation environment – the coloured plastic sheets hinting at the colour palette of the midnight train car with lights reflecting and piano tinkling – alongside the ceramic objects half referencing the natural world outside the window, and lights reflecting in from another environment, allows a place for personal reflection in the shadow hours we all experience in our lives.
www.tinasalvidge.co.uk
[email protected]
@salvidgetina4
I am a multi-disciplinary artist based in Somerset, and graduated from UWE with a First-Class Degree in Fine Art and Visual Culture in 2020. I increasingly create mixed media work alongside my film and audio work, and have recently become fascinated with clay as an artistic medium concurrent with my digital practice.
At Hatch I am exploring ceramic objects and artist film within my installation. I am constantly seeking out both the obvious and the hidden connections between ideas and tangible objects. This often leads to a disjunction or disorientation within my work alongside a hint of melancholia (without being nostalgic).
This is how I see the world around me, which I express in my short films using both found and own filmed footage. Music as a soundtrack is also an important part of my work and past improvised community projects have often reflected this.
I enjoy working within my local community on socially engaged projects, collaborating, sharing skills and curating exhibitions.
REFLECTIONS AND SHADOWS
2022 - 2023
Installation – video (17 minutes loop), ceramics, lighting and found objects.
This exhibition piece emerged from research into our understanding of “reflections” and “shadows” in differing contexts. From the tongue in cheek gaming sequence of Empire of the Shadows, the landing sites of an Apollo mission charted in shadow on the Moon, through to the natural shadows and reflections of people/puppets /Nature as well verbal “reflections” on the nature of art and the political “reflection” on Trumps election the piece explores through juxtaposition of image and sound the multi-faceted theme of the Hatch exhibition.
During the editing process I was continually drawn back to travel and reflections of various places I had visited and often viewed through train windows and their reflections. Creating a sense of voyeurism and internal dialogue (although the film is played on a loop, to be joined at any stage), the natural progression is through chaos to calm and the installation environment – the coloured plastic sheets hinting at the colour palette of the midnight train car with lights reflecting and piano tinkling – alongside the ceramic objects half referencing the natural world outside the window, and lights reflecting in from another environment, allows a place for personal reflection in the shadow hours we all experience in our lives.