Western Morning News (Saturday)
An arc of unexpected connections
Frank Ruhrmund takes in the latest exhibition of work by a trio of artists whose collaboration conjures up some exciting results
Certainly colourful, the fifth exhibition by this group of Falmouthbased artists, ARC presents an opportunity for viewers to see the arcs between and within the practice of the three artists involved, and from “Crator a mixed media work on paper, by Sue Davis; to Orange Seed, a screen print by Lesley Harry, and the Devil’s Basin, a ceramic on a glass and steel plinth by Jane Smith, to note the unexpected connection that results, the vibrancy of form and abstract expression.
At the same time, they should perhaps be aware of the advice one of them, the painter Sue Davis, once gave to those puzzled by abstract art. “If you can decide what you like for yourself, then Aladdin’s caves await you. Leave behind what you see in the commercial galleries, ignore the critics and their words, choose your own freedom: rely on yourself. Let a work come to you and into your thoughts. It can be anything and it is owned by you.” In her work, we are told, she embraces the open-ended exploration of plastic expression used by the American Expressionists, with a dash of the playfulness of Kandinsky’s spiritual awareness, which reminds one that it was Kandkinsky who maintained that “of all the arts, abstract painting is the most difficult. It demands that you know how to draw well, that you have a heightened sensitivity for composition and for colours, and that you be a true poet.”
Sue Davis, all that and more, presents us with mysterious pictures that pose as many questions as answers and leave us with a potential wealth of speculative or interpretative responses. Lesley Harry, as she tells us, lives in Falmouth within walking distance of the influential John Howard Print Studio, and it is there that she turns her sketches and photographs into finished prints. She says, “I’m interested in exploring edges in the landscape, and in the juxtaposition of static and moving forms. Print making encourages endless exploration and experimentation, and I create detailed etchings and monoprints that express my interest in the tension and fragility I observe where water, land and rock, coincide, be this in a mountain stream, off the Cornish coast, or beneath Arctic cliffs.” Her hand-pulled screen prints, in which combinations are based on the algae, ferns, seeds and lichen found in Cornwall, are as bold as they are joyful and satisfying. Look out, too, for her Edge prints that she creates by cutting stencils that are hand-printed using a silk screen.
The series is a colour variable (cv) limited edition of 5-15 prints per image on archival paper, signed and dated. They can also be rotated within a frame, and hung individually or as a group.
In her ceramics Jane Smith explores the relationship between various aspects of our environment and how, although often contrasting, they work together to create a balanced outcome. The materials and processes she uses are equally important to her and relate to her having grown up in the Midlands with its surrounding influence of industry and making. The forms themselves are influenced by remembered images, snapshots of the dynamic ever-changing landscape around her. As has been said, glass and clay elements can often be physically separated but the way they work together tells a story of the relationship between humankind and nature. Compelling and as impressive as they are intriguing, admission is free. The work of these three artists can be seen at the Studio Gallery, in the Penwith Gallery, Back Road West, St Ives, 10-5, Monday-Sat, until May 22.