Transient

Today I went to see the Prism Group Show at Hoxton Arches. I've been following this group for several years now and have enjoyed the variety and approachability of the works they produce. I haven't been to Hoxton Arches before, although I am familiar with the Geffrye museum which is spitting distance away. The show was hung over three rooms, on white walls and plain tables. There was some friendly chatting going on in the entrance, and a small shop at the back of the third room. The overall feeling was of light, and a relaxed sense of time.

Since there are around 50 separate exhibitors, each with their own philosophy and techniques, it is difficult to summarise the show. Overall the skill exhibited was, I think, higher than it has been on my previous visits to Prism shows, with a variety of approaches to the theme of transience. I was intrigued, moved and amused in turns. I particularly enjoyed Molly Williams' natural coloured felt dancing sculptures. This one has a lot of movement and is also satisfyingly interesting as a whole piece. I can really imagine enjoying it for a long time if it was on my wall. This image is from her website www.mollywilliams.co.uk.

I thought Julia van den Bosch's piece had a lot of the complexity of the natural world, which is so hard to capture. And Prinkie Roberts' shapes and colours took me straight back to the brisk breezes of my dinghy-sailing days. I laughed at the ingenuity of Katharine Paton-King's use of electronic cables to decorate hats, and I am in total agreement with the message: let's 'disrupt perceptions of what warrants as disposible.'

Nicola Moody's delicate weaving uses subtle disruptions of the normal weaving expectations and grey on grey images to convey intimacy. The process of weaving itself as transience. Jackie Longfeld's wire, bead and sturdy screw sculpture surprisingly conveyed the human body and it's vulnerability very effectively. I particularly liked Caroline Kirton's drawing about beingness, in part because it is so different from what I make, while in some way attempting what I am attempting. To me the different ways we communicate our inner reality, and the potential for misunderstanding, are very important in this world of ours, so I tend to look for the connections and similarities rather than the perhaps more obvious differences. And I found in Jeryl Church's deceptively simple and skillful piece a reflection of a similar awareness of the disconnects, in her case in our current understanding of past civilisations.

As you can tell, I had a lovely time, and left inspired. Thank you Prism!

#Otherartists