A Group Exhibition
LOCKDOWN STUDIES - a Paradigm Shift
LILY PLATTS
MARGARET DIX
NICOLA FLYNN
‘Lockdown Studies’ explores the responses of 3 artists to their suddenly 'closed-off’ and newly confined worlds due to the public health-imposed lockdowns. Restricted movements and social isolation meant a shift in paradigm for Lily Platts, Margaret Dix and Nicola Flynn as they searched for inspiration and new areas of creative focus.
LILY PLATTS
Lily’s work explores the everyday interactions we have with objects as she turned to the very accessible, online platform of Facebook Marketplace for inspiration over lockdown. "Like browsing through a vintage household revived by modern technology, I found the contrast between the era of some objects and the platform they were displayed on quite jarring. After hours of scrolling, I became fascinated with the way I used this platform and my need to consume. I was drawn to the everyday objects and other random possessions that were going cheap. The more I looked, the more I enjoyed the incidental compositions that were taken when trying to sell the unwanted items. I found myself engrossed by the way the post told a story of the people behind the lens and imagining the past life of the furniture. This body of work is an exploration as I endeavour to capture the random compositions of furniture that give a sense of the people that use them.
NICOLA FLYNN
A frustration of tangled emotions and the passing of time in lockdown both blurred Flynn's creative vision and dictated the creative road she would ultimately take during this time. Nic embraced the beauty within the absence of order and found a way out of, what felt like chaos as she moved away from her familiar wire sculptures and toward colour and the paint brush. Flynn took on a new and intricate challenge as life slowed down and provided the space that gave focus and breath to canvas. In her small environmental studies, Nic focuses on the mundane of empty, local street scenes, presenting them with soft and hard edges and swathes of colour that take place where a conversation is just waiting to occur, suggesting the unspoken stories in the moments beyond.
Margaret Dix
Unable to access her studio and her plain air inspiration during the lockdowns of 2021, Dix was forced to work from her home and found herself reflecting thoughtfully on recent travels and some lasting impressions from a European journey she made in 2019. Ideas for paintings from this working holiday were still not fully explored so she turned to her travel sketch books, recalling images of landscapes and vistas that were still in her visual consciousness Dix's paintings reflect a mood as she shares moments of joyful discoveries or a quiet view she enjoyed. Recalling the experience and thoughts invoked, Dix invites the viewer to share in her reciniscences of the multi-faceted sensory experience of travel and gain hope and comfort in being reminded of the connectedness of our world, particularly in these times of a global health crisis.