Thanks to Rachel for sharing details of this upcoming exhibition at Dimbola Museum and Galleries. Ed
Explore the Island’s Western Yar estuary through word and image in this collaborative exhibition and book by Isle of Wight artist Colin Riches and poet Lydia Fullylove.
Their work charts the passage of a year on the estuary, listening to the voices of the people who work the land and exploring though visual image, poetry and diary observation what we mean by a sense of place.
Lydia explains:
“We spent days with groups of young people and adults, opening our senses to the place and its creatures and trying to re-connect, whether in rain, wind or sunshine, with the enlivening power of nature. And, drawing on memory and imagination, art and literature, we created a sense of estuary and river landscapes within HMP Isle of Wight.
“Our interaction with these groups as well as the currents in our own lives is reflected in the work in this book and exhibition.
“Both words and visual images are connected by the central notion which crosses the art forms: the act of paying attention. We wanted work which conveyed the immediacy of being present and which reflected this quality of observation, so that the reader or viewer might come close to our experience of place. The marks made with ink, twigs, moss or fingers, earth or words are a sign of having been there, evoking the relationship with place at that moment.
“The work becomes a dialogue between ourselves and place, and a gradually evolving attempt to map inner as well as outer landscapes.”
