Turbulence – Sara Dudman RWA & Jenny Graham

1st August– 30th August
Wed, Thurs, Sat, Sun. 11am – 5pm

Sharing residencies wishing North Yorkshire and along the North Eastern coastline Sara and Jenny have explored the history geology and culture of the area using a range of mediums

Kittiwakes – Sara Dudman

Jenny Graham

Sarah Dudman RWA
A deep curiosity about relationships and places underpins my creative practice. Using the personal and interpretive possibilities of drawing and painting, yet drawn from the immediacy and documentation of video, my works reinterpret the landscape and the elements at play upon it. The use of tape, to variously describe the flight patterns of birds and suggest the turbulence leading to rock erosion characterises several works. Our stay in Staithes May/ June 2016 coincided with fledging time for the kittiwake colony nesting in their thousands on the precarious cliff-faces. The fascination with the noise and activity of the birds in Staithes and also up the coast on the Farne Islands, was a key influence in the development of the larger works in this exhibition. They endeavour to balance the seemingly fragile and chaotic motion and transience of the birds against the apparent permanence of the cliffs and rocks. A chance encounter with geological researchers on Staithes shore provided excellent insights to the regional geology and environmental challenges. Rocks have emerged as metaphors for defining and questioning assumptions about permanence, resistance and protection.The life-cycle of rocks and their integral place in shaping our experience of coastal places are examined in these works. The physicality of navigating rocky coastal terrains; the smoothness of eroded surfaces juxtaposed against newly fallen rocks; are equally suggestive of transience and permanence. The fascination with rocks is an ongoing theme which has evolved through stages including: ‘Fallen Rocks’ ‘Thrown Rocks’ ‘Sibling Rocks’ ‘Boundary Rocks’ I was elected an academician at the Royal West of England Academy of Art in 2016. I have exhibited widely including The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, The Jerwood Drawing Prize, The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition, The National Open Art Competition, The Society of Wildlife Artists’ annual exhibition, The Royal Watercolour Society’s annual Contemporary Watercolour Exhibition. I have been selected for artist residencies in diverse locations including Italy, Cornwall, Shetland and Northumberland.

Jenny Graham
Working with my own photographs and acquired postcards I have constructed images which hold visual memories tenuously, a metaphor for the action of time and tide. In this series of work, I have concentrated not only on the front of the cards but also the messages found on the back. Working in collage, photo-transfer and mixed media suits an evolutionary process, in which layers are laid down, eroded and re-revealed. My paintings in this exhibition also refer to tidal changes in the coastal landscape and contain fragments of found Edwardian text buried within their layers of paint, collage and photo-transfer, en;cing the viewers to search for a hint of hidden informa;on. I studied art in New York and later went on to gain an MA in Multi-disciplinary Printmaking at the University of the West of England. My work with archival postcards has recently been exhibited at the Na;onal Open Art Exhibition at the Oxo Towers in London, won first prize at the A2 Gallery Open Exhibition in Wells and a Highly Commended at the Black Swan Open in Frome, Somerset. I am a member of the RWA Artist’s Network, Fingerprint and Somerset Printmakers.