The Stone Space
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Gillian Swan finds inspiration in the buildings around us
Gillian Swan is drawn to the minutiae of change in the urban environment and records the evolution and transition of structures and places created by people and time. “The processes of wear and alteration to sites add to their individuality and should not automatically be viewed negatively.” she says.
In her exhibition ‘Outlines’ her piece ‘View from the train’ shows instances of graffiti being painted over to remove it and how these areas of ‘buffing’ bring a dimension of their own with their variations of texture, colour and layering. In ‘Wall’ she re-creates a surface discovered in Leyton referencing the vivid colours used to cover the original façade and emulates its texture using plaster and sand. This completely contrasts with the muted colours of the expunged wall graffiti in ’View from the train’. Whilst her work is wall mounted it is three dimensional, including materials such as cardboard, plaster and household emulsion paint. These elements are used to stunning effect in the piece ‘Garages’. One of the larger pieces on show references the mouldings on a terrace of houses in Leytonstone High Street; specific observations of the houses show the individual patinas which have developed in each building. Through her work she challenges the viewer to re-examine the way we consider mutations to our immediate surroundings and perhaps to see them not as degrading but as an evolvement of the original structures.
Find more on Gillian Swan http://www.gillianswan.co.uk/
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Walthamstow artists Alke Schmidt and Della Rees on how the environment and social issues past and present affect their work and why even bad things can be beautiful
Photography by Martine Charalambou
German born Alke and New Zealander Della have both lived in this country for over 20 years and although they have shown work at the same events this is their first collaborative exhibition. They decided on this venture when having worked together at the Mitre Studios in Walthamstow over the past year they realised that they were both moved and influenced by similar concerns over environmental matters.
Della’s work usually brings art into urban contexts recycling found materials and appropriating traditional techniques into site-specific works. She says “My works are often by their nature transitory and are themselves eventually recycled and absorbed back into the environment”. In ‘Spill’ she has produced pieces for indoor display using different mediums including oils, marbling and plastic.
Alke has been inspired by anger at the effects of pollution on the planet and the consequences they have on its population. “I feel that much of my art is motivated by my outrage at man-made environmental disasters as well as the social injustices created by the ‘markets”. In her work she often contrasts present day topics with influences from past eras, for example using imagery of the recent unrests on British streets against Rococo backgrounds.
The exhibition ‘Spill’ at the Stone Space takes its theme from global oil spillages. Alke, roused by the effects of the BP catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico uses reprints from a collection of the 19th century naturalist, James Audubon’s ‘Birds of America’, and paints over them with shapes in textured enamel paint plotting the evolution of the pollution across the Gulf.
Della’s exhibits at ‘Spill’ include ’20 Ships’ spills’, a piece mapping various spillages from ships across the world; ‘Container Stack’ references container ships and explores the fact that oil and water do not mix; ‘A memorial’ captures the iridescent beauty of oil and draws on the similarity in its colours to those of the New Zealand Paua shell.
As this fascinating and thought-provoking exhibition shows there is beauty to be found in even the most catastrophic of events.
Find more on the artists at
www.alkeschmidt.com
www.della.eu.com
We have a fantastic line up of exhibitions for 2012, featuring installation artists Martine Charalambou, Debbie Locke, Alke Schmidt, Della Rees, Gillian Swan, Carne Griffiths and Eleanor Bedlow. There will be live painting events, sculpture and drawing installations with each exhibition lasting 2 weeks. So put these dates in your calendar as each one is a must see.
Enjoy our closed doors exhibition, Ornamentisimas and we’ll see you in 2012 for our New Year opening Live Paint show with Martine Charalambou. We hope you have a wonderful Festive Season and a Happy New Year, The Stone Space Team
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