The Faraway Nearby

About

An exhibition of works on paper, print and sculpture that explores intimate distance, memory and the stories that connect us; inspired by Rebecca Solnit’s book ‘The Faraway Nearby’.  Artists: Prudence Ainslie, Amy-Jane Blackhall, Helen Barff, Katherine Jones, Rebecca Salter RA, Meryl Setchell Ainslie and Sally Taylor.

‘It’s all in the telling. Stories are compasses and architecture; we navigate by them, we build our sanctuaries and our prisons out of them, and to be without a story is to be lost in the vastness of a world that spreads in all directions...’ 
Rebecca Solnit ‘The Faraway Nearby’, Granta Books, 2013

• Prudence Ainslie’s prints fold, layer and abstract architectural imagery to create subtle illusions. They are constructed tangible worlds that allude to the original space and interrogate the fluctuation between the reading of the two-dimensional and three-dimensional.
• Amy-Jane Blackhall documents her collections - plants, stones, gems; to recall facets of memory that she then translates into print. She is fascinated by the journey these objects have endured from foreign lands to their current residence in her home with ‘her gaze and ‘her touch’.
• Helen Barff & Katherine Jones’ collaborative work concern both the geography of the story and its relationship to the body. From a single sail they unstitched to create two halves, each artist worked on one half. The sail will come together to tell their stories.
• Rebecca Salter’s minimalist imagery is influenced by her time in Japan and traditional Japanese printmaking techniques. Drawing on the raw materials of paper and cherry wood blocks, she transfers marks from wood to paper. They are cut, folded and traced to create visual depth of surface. 
• Meryl Setchell Ainslie makes silver sculpture in response to journeys. Six tokens, in folded silver hold a photograph of an Indian eye, deliberately unidentified and embellished with gemstones. These are speaking objects; behind each eye is a storyteller, a culture and a life.
• Sally Taylor uses found objects and repurposed papers. Her ‘Head’ drawings are in conversation. There is a desire to understand more about human relationships, particularly that of Sally Taylor’s own interaction with others.

NOTE: In response to the current situation surrounding Coronavirus we have extending our opening event on Sat March 14th from two to eight hours thereby reducing the numbers attending at any one time. We have handwashing facilities at the gallery and are monitoring the situation in line with government advice.