Still Here

About

STILL HERE expresses surprise at our continuous existence as humans on earth, and invites the viewer to take a moment of stillness in space as an antidote to our fast paced lives which are slowly destroying our planet. The two-person exhibition explores the impermanence of being alive, as well as the fleeting existence of the human species on earth. The artworks investigate death, time, and the stillness calling us to achieve a state of presence. Influenced by meditation practice, Eastern philosophy, and conceptions of impermanence, the artwork explores the ripple effect that our minds have on the world around us, the desire lines we create as we move through the earth and try to own it, and the continuous day-to-day cycles of the natural world that are our wisest teachers. Time, temporality and slowness are paramount in this space, as the work asks the viewer to slow, to listen, and to open.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS Yael Roberts and Alice Highet met as artists supported by NewBridge and Newcastle University's early career artist programme, Collective Studio (2018-19). Through a process of supporting each other, sharing ideas and developing work as peer mentors, common themes have emerged. The artists showed together at the Newbridge Project in 2019, and have funded this exhibition at the Lumen Studios Gallery through the generous support of their Kickstarter backers.

YAEL ROBERTS (b. 1992, St. Louis, MO) lives and works in London. She is a mixed media artist who body-prints from found objects to create installations exploring impermanence. Her work documents and measures periods of time spent in real or mythic place. She holds an MA from Camberwell College in Printmaking, and was part of the Collective Studio 2018-2019 at The Newbridge Project. Residencies include: The Fish Factory, Listhus, Stiwdio Maelor, Oficina Bartolomeu dos Santos (OBS), ChaNorth (Chashama), Contemporary Artists Center (CAC). www.yaelroberts.com @yael_roberts

ALICE HIGHET (b. 1975, London) lives and works in Durham, UK. She projects moving-image and sound onto sculptural installations of varying scales. Her work explores themes of time, sensory perception and slowness, creating immersive or contemplative spaces. She is currently completing a practice-based PhD at Newcastle University, researching embodied technology, funded by Northern Bridge. She has shown her work across North East England and in London and been funded by Arts Council and Institute of Physics. www.instagram.com/alicehighet

COVID-19 The gallery's guidance is as follows: All crypt users and visitors are required to wear a mask inside the space. The door of the crypt will be open during the exhibition. Visitors to the crypt should scan the Lumen Studios NHS Test and Trace QR code by the door. If guests do not have the NHS Covid app, we will be taking visitor details. These will be deleted after 21 days in accordance with government guidance. Should government COVID-19 advice change, we will review this process.

ACCESSIBILITY The crypt is part of a grade I listed building with some uneven surfaces. Wheelchair access is possible via the crypt entrance on Roman Road, from which you can then access the Lumen gallery step-free, giving access to the lower Lumen gallery area.Further into the space there are two steps up/down, which are currently not ramped. *Please let us know if you have any access requirements by messaging at leat 48 hours before the show.*