Banner Image from, Nadine Mahoney, by Yves Blais.
Gordon: “It’s exciting to see so much passion and intensity.”
Gusts, Romulo Goncalves.
Gusts by Romulo Goncalves is one of many reasons to make a trip to the Lakeside Gallery in Thamesmead, run by Bow Arts. I visited on the day the affordable workspace, cafe and gallery spaces were officially opened, and was drawn to the small display of intensely atmospheric drawings. They have a sense of place and of memory, but seem to be emotional responses to moments rather than faithful reproductions. It’s exciting to see so much passion and intensity, contrasting with the Thamesmead architectural aesthetic.
Images by: Gordon Seabright
Gemma: “the link between art and writing”
Sunstainable Play Book by Sydney Piercey, Paper Stories and Edmund de Waal.
This month, I really enjoyed being able to fuse art and play around where I live in South East London. I popped by an author’s craft workshop and book signing with my daughter, where Sydney Piercey was giving demonstrations from her Sustainable Playbook, full of cardboard crafting ideas. It was a joy to see the magic that this creativity brings and when we got home, my daughter wanted to write her own book (as well as build a cardboard swing!) – what an inspiration these experiences are. This sense of social crafting carried through to a visit to Paper Stories, where a new local papercraft café offers collage kits off the shelf, reminding me that playtime and papercraft doesn’t have to be just for my daughter. In all of this, I kept noticing the multidisciplinary way we can enjoy and access art, particularly how it is combined with writing – a combination that is practiced with such dedication and commitment by internationally renowned local artist Edmund de Waal. So grateful for how all these creative practices contribute to my own sense of place.
Images: Paper Stories
Yves “playful, powerful and subtly political”
Open Weekend, Chisenhale Studios
Over the weekend I went to Chisenhale Studios’ open weekend. Chisenhale Studios houses 40 artists in an old industrial building the other side of the canal to Victoria Park in East London, where they’ve resided for the last 40 years. It was great getting back into the studios and feeling an atmosphere of anticipation, the studio holders all clearly pleased to get to show an audience what they’ve been up to over the last two years plus since the pandemic. Nadine Mahoney’s studio was awash with vibrant fluorescent canvases. Her paintings, prints and glasswork are playful, powerful and subtly political in their representation of the female form. She also runs E3 Creative Glass, workshops for local groups and the public. She says that the raw material of the glass gives people the opportunity to hold and play with pure colour.
Image: Yves Blais