Statements

Philip

Landscape enables me to explore the visual world. My artwork is an attempt to go beyond a representation or simplification of what I perceive. It is the result of sustained psychological spatial experience. In response to visual and other stimuli I try to produce work with a strong sense of atmosphere or place/occasion. To accomplish this end I make marks, which accumulate to create a textured painted surface.

Although inspiration for my work comes mainly from the landscape and from the sea and the sky, I aim to produce something which is more than simply a visual representation of what I have experienced. The materials I use provide a source of inspiration in themselves, and so once I get started on a piece it progresses partly from the ideas that I have visualised in my head and partly from the random things that happen as part of the process. This mixture of random and controlled elements means that there is always a problem-solving aspect to producing a finished piece, which I find interesting. I like the spontaneity of working in this way as there is rarely a totally predictable outcome.

As a painter and textile artist, I love the tactile and visual qualities of the materials that I use. I sometimes work with textiles on their own but at other times I combine them with other media. Acrylic paint is one of my favourite materials. Sometimes I work with it alone but I have found and continue to develop different ways of combining it with textiles in my pictures. In many ways, even when using textiles I am painting. For me, the tactile qualities of textiles can often say more than paint alone.

Living in Munich and sometimes in the Bavarian countryside, I am inspired by the contrast between the city life, with its coolness and social problems, and the - seemingly - romantic country life. I paint animals, flowers, landscapes and people in particular situations. Two issues are important for me : the painting should have a touch of humour or surprise, and I like to use strong colours.

Tension and balance features more strongly in the sculptures, whereas the stroboscopic images tend to naturally generate rhythm and dynamism and become a kind of visual music.

I am beginning to see the creation of these sculptures and images as a point of medatitive contact for me with the rhythms of planets, time and tides. The seasons and the cycles of light and dark can be likened to the dance of our spirits through joy and sadness, through patterns of events which flow through our lives and through history since the beginning of time, and of whose rhythms we are barely conscious.

THE GROUP STATEMENT	INDIVIDUAL STATEMENTS
I Never Tire of this World I Witness! Rhythm, texture, colour and form! The delight we take in absorbing, expressing and depicting our environment and our feelings is behind this Easter Exhibition. We hope it brings you joy, intrigue and pleasure! The interesting thing about international networking websites (where we artists met) is the potential they have for enabling very different types of artists to come together to create lively shows on their own initiative out of artworks you wouldn’t normally expect to see side by side. Our common threads are under the surface rather than immediately apparent, the work of each of us being very different. The effect of these hidden affinities is more like a band playing different instruments. The end result will still be one piece of music, however experimental this may be. The position of the gallery itself will play a part in our music, being at a place where land meets sea’ where solidity meets fluidity; and because the shoreline constantly asks the question we ask ourselves: Where is the line between the two? We find this line is never fixed but always shifting - shifting in response to a rhythmic cycle of movement and the magnetic pull of the moon. The sea is a dancer, and the land itself becomes fluid, as grains of sand swirl under the solid impact of walls of water. Each becomes its opposite at this meeting place .... … and then returns back to itself. Perhaps even permanence and impermanence are two sides of one coin. We are now living in uncertain times, but as artists all four of us have clearly long been aware of moving back and forth along a spectrum of polar opposites. The spectrum might be: order and chaos spontaneity and control angularity and curvilinearity town and country romance and pragmatism conscious and unconscious warmth and coldness light and darkness Sometimes the transitions between these polar opposites are smooth and flowing, but just as often we can experience them as sudden shocks, or points of conflict. Sometimes many conflicts are resolved in the creation of an artwork. We expect other polarities will also emerge in our show and will be evident to us when we meet. We look forward to this as it is sure to amuse us. We hope it amuses you! Different as we may all seem, our personal responses to the constantly changing visual world we witness are tied in every case to this range of polarities we all work on, and these, like the line between the land and the sea, or the horizon between day and night, are forever linked to the timeless rhythm of the music of the spheres. And so ultimately : we will never tire of this world we witness! ‘I Never Tire of this World I Witness’ will include figurative paintings and sculpture, landscapes, seascapes (both painted and made from textiles) and abstract paintings. It will open on Friday 10th April until Wednesday 15th April at the Arts Forum Gallery, Hastings. We hope to see you there	Philip Landscape enables me to explore the visual world. My artwork is an attempt to go beyond a representation or simplification of what I perceive. It is the result of sustained psychological spatial experience. In response to visual and other stimuli I try to produce work with a strong sense of atmosphere or place/occasion. To accomplish this end I make marks, which accumulate to create a textured painted surface. Naomi Although inspiration for my work comes mainly from the landscape and from the sea and the sky, I aim to produce something which is more than simply a visual representation of what I have experienced. The materials I use provide a source of inspiration in themselves, and so once I get started on a piece it progresses partly from the ideas that I have visualised in my head and partly from the random things that happen as part of the process. This mixture of random and controlled elements means that there is always a problem-solving aspect to producing a finished piece, which I find interesting. I like the spontaneity of working in this way as there is rarely a totally predictable outcome. As a painter and textile artist, I love the tactile and visual qualities of the materials that I use. I sometimes work with textiles on their own but at other times I combine them with other media. Acrylic paint is one of my favourite materials. Sometimes I work with it alone but I have found and continue to develop different ways of combining it with textiles in my pictures. In many ways, even when using textiles I am painting. For me, the tactile qualities of textiles can often say more than paint alone. Andrea Living in Munich and sometimes in the Bavarian countryside, I am inspired by the contrast between the city life, with its coolness and social problems, and the - seemingly - romantic country life. I paint animals, flowers, landscapes and people in particular situations. Two issues are important for me : the painting should have a touch of humour or surprise, and I like to use strong colours. Marina At this exhibition I will be concentrating on the human figure in movement. The emphasis in the images you will see is variously on dynamism, tension, rhythm or balance. Tension and balance features more strongly in the sculptures, whereas the stroboscopic images tend to naturally generate rhythm and dynamism and become a kind of visual music. I am beginning to see the creation of these sculptures and images as a point of medatitive contact for me with the rhythms of planets, time and tides. The seasons and the cycles of light and dark can be likened to the dance of our spirits through joy and sadness, through patterns of events which flow through our lives and through history since the beginning of time, and of whose rhythms we are barely conscious.
	Press STATEMENT
	I never tire of this world I witness This International Exhibition of seascapes, landscapes, dancers and abstract rhythmic imagery celebrates the constantly changing visual world. Wherever we go we find interest and beauty in the environment in which we live. We four artists from England, the Channel Islands and Germany will be meeting in the flesh for the first time at this exhibition! We met online a year ago on Artmesh, an artist’s discussion forum, were drawn to the polarities in each other’s work and have been planning this exhibition since July last year. We are all curious to experience the unique atmosphere that will arise from the interaction of our work.