It’s happening… Spring is on its way! Maybe you’ve seen the odd daffodil emerging as daylight extends just that little bit more each day. Freshness, effervescence, hope! These are some of the themes that inspired the current selection of Director’s Picks. In their own unique ways, each piece seems to touch on the human duality of propelling forward, whilst reflecting on the past.
A day of fog has as much beauty as a day of clarity… In fact, it’s the added texture of enigma, risk, and possibility that’s kept our hearts aloft, ready for new challenges and surprises. This is wittily captured in Rosemary Burn’s ‘Vitamin C’, where even the citric fizz of an energy tablet possesses its own mystery.. A real storm in a tumbler!
More abstractly, Heini King and Jan Valik render landscapes leaden with energies not always visible to the naked eye. Sensorial hauntings sweep through their work, etching traces of strange light amongst clarifying patches of blue sky and greenery. Elsewhere, Kate Cunningham’s gorgeous skyscape captures the mythological majesty of clouds, whilst Carlos San Milan’s opaline seascape paints a cove of dreams.
If you see figures, they’re often contemplating. Sam Wood’s ‘Looking Back in Red’, uses colour to mark contrasts between the past and future. Tentative hands cling to the self for security, as the figure is both separate from, and invested in, the landscape ahead. Alternatively, William Fice’s ‘Walking Figure’ strides forth with an almost experimental confidence against the swirling, glowing background. Grace against uncertainty – this is how we’re hoping to move forward now…
