Stour Valley Arts is exhibiting my Insecta project and has commissioned an essay for Retain:Reclaim – a curatorial exhibition featuring the artists Chris Drury and Kate Linforth as well as myself.

 

Stour Valley Arts’ Cornershop
Unit 3, Park Mall
Ashford
Kent TN24 8UU

 

11 am–4 pm, Wednesday–Saturday

 

Exhibition launch: Saturday 22 February, 12–4 pm – all welcome. The artists and curators will be present from noon. At 1 pm there will be an artist's talk by Kate Linforth followed by a discussion.

 

News-14-02-11a.png

(Left to right) Rich Cutler: Insecta, photographic print. Chris Drury: Boletus Circle, mud screenprint. Kate Linforth: Woodland Fungus, beeswax pigment and bark.

 

Retain:Reclaim – the first of five pop-up exhibitions to be curated within Stour Valley Arts’ Cornershop

Retain:Reclaim is the realisation of a visual research project that explores the versatile relationship between nature and man. Man has for centuries attempted to suppress nature due to the obsessive need to order chaos. Retain:Reclaim aims to challenge this desire to contain nature and the perception of its success; it endorses the organic growth and shows the unpredictable and somewhat vengeful ‘reclaim’ of nature.

 

The exhibition showcases work from three scientific-research based artists who display contrasting methods that endeavour to retain nature.

 

''While the rationalisation, organisation and intellectual dissection of the natural world is an activity that humankind has engaged in for centuries, it is important to remember that nature still retains the capacity to undo our orderly constructs and reclaim the landscape for its own.''
(R. O’Reilly 2014)

 

Supporting the curatorial dialogue, a catalogue accompanies the exhibition and will be free to take away. The catalogue contains new essays by the curators and a responsive project by Rowena O’ Reilly, which will explore the common themes and concepts found in the works of Kate Linforth, Chris Drury and Rich Cutler.

 

An artist's talk by Kate Linforth will be hosted at the Cornershop venue during the exhibition launch at 1 pm on Saturday 22 February. She will be discussing her scientific influences that feed into the beautiful sculptural works on display, followed by a Q&A session.