Welcome back to artist Cheryl Nolan, who joins sculptor Kylie Nichols to create our October exhibition, Thick Skin.
Thick Skin is about our outer shells – those we build around us to protect ourselves from the elements.
Kylie and Cheryl explore the qualities of resilience using fruit and vegetables as a figurative reference.
Like people, fruit and vegetables have an outer skin that gives no indication of what’s inside. They’re versatile and resilient and have adapted to suit the times and/or situation.
Kylie has chosen to represent the humble pumpkin – one of Nature’s more resilient fruits. It has become a symbol of prosperity, growth and abundance, with its tough outer shell to protect it from its environment.
In her works, made of fine white porcelain, Kylie explores and celebrates the pumpkin’s geometric forms that reflect strong sculptural lines.
Cheryl too, has a focus on shape and line, exploring the patterns and qualities of fruit and vegetables as they are stacked and displayed in boxes. These are those expressed in beautiful embossed prints and yet others in oils on canvas. And yes, there are humans too, in their boxes, in the almost voyeuristic painting, Survival.
Both artists have enjoyed representing the subtle relationships between shape, line and form.
Thick skin is a robust celebration of the versatility of the fruit and vegetable kingdom and of the ability of all organisms to grow and change in order to endure.
Thick skin is on show at Mrs Harris’ Shop until Sunday 25 October. The gallery is open on Saturdays and Sundays, 11am – 3pm, or by appointment.