Newlyn Society of Artists Showcase 2023

Saturday 14 October to Sunday 5 November.

Tremenheere Gallery, Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, Gulval, Penzance, Cornwall TR20 8YL

The Showcase is one of the NSA’s twice-yearly exhibitions at Tremenheere. Drawn from our membership of almost 100 professional artists, this exhibition aims to present a slice of lively and thought provoking art created in Cornwall in the 2020s. There is no house style in the NSA. The visitor can expect to see high-quality work across a range of media reflecting the wide diversity of practices and interests within the membership where the nature and challenges of contemporary life find an artistic voice.

On Saturday 21 October a group of participating artists will be at the gallery from 1.45pm to talk to visitors about the ideas and processes involved in their practice. The Artists Talks will be followed at 3.00pm by a presentation by Dr Virginia Button with ‘Some thoughts on the Artist’s Society in a Rural Community’.

The piece i have submitted to the show is ‘Oceana’ a large collage made with hand painted paper. I wanted to make something beautiful and colourful for a hospital or hospice setting, something that would be uplifting, bringing joy and delight while also highlighting issues of plastic pollution in our oceans. It is currently looking for a home in such a setting.

This piece was inspired by Matisse’s cut outs, which are often filled with seaweed like shapes. Produced in the final years of his life when his eyesight was fading and he was wheelchair bound, he used scissors to draw fluid shapes from painted papers which his assistants then pinned to the wall under his direction. I have always found them hugely inspiring, particularly ‘L’Escargot’ which I visited every time I went to the Tate. There is something in its great size that is completely absorbing, and I wanted this collage to have the same affect, so its scale is important. As well as drawing from my own photographs of seaweeds, I also used images of marine pollution: Plastic bags, six pack tops, facemasks and flip-flops. They weave their way through the composition as surely as they do in our Oceans.

‘Of all the plastic waste produced to date, only 9% has been recycled. Ever. In the history of plastic production. It has to stop’ 

Surfers Against Sewage