Artist Interviews, with artist-curator Helen Dryden
Claire Oliver is an artist who explores 'the landscape of the mind' through painting and poetry. Her concise poems and carefully constructed colour block paintings feel almost zen-like and meditative. Her exhibition During Waking Hours runs from June 25th to July 1st 2023 at Compact Contemporary in Leeds, UK. Claire Oliver - During Waking Hours... Continue Reading →
Julia Pomeroy is a painter whose practice usually involves large scale atmospheric portrait paintings in oil on canvas. Born in London, Julia currently lives and works in Leeds. Julia Pomeroy in her studio at Assembly House, Leeds. Photo provided by the artist. I first met Julia in 2020 when she had completed her degree in... Continue Reading →
Eve Schroeder is a third year Illustration with Animation student at Manchester School of Art. Her work is inspired by nature, the human body, queer identity and Fat Justice. Her work is multimedia, incorporating textiles, cyanotype, ceramics, laser cut wood, painting and animation. Her current exhibition Under the Sun at Compact Contemporary runs from January... Continue Reading →
Featured Image: work from 'Somewhere Else' by Lucy Baxendale (2021). Photo courtesy of the artist Lucy Baxendale is a ceramicist, illustrator and community artist, based in Herefordshire. Her hand made illustrations and ceramics feature a population of fantastical characters, creatures and monsters, who appear to live in a surreal leafy woodland. Lucy’s making process begins... Continue Reading →
Featured image: 'Eye Mask' (2020) by Holland Otik. Image provided by the artist. Holland Otik is a maker whose creative practice focuses on figurative artefacts and mask making with links to rituals, healing and shamanism. From her studio/shop in Hereford, Otik researches contemporary and traditional magical practices, and imbues her work with symbolic meaning. She often makes... Continue Reading →
Header image: Performative Act.003 Damaris Athene (2021) - all images courtesy of the artist, unless otherwise indicated. Damaris Athene is a multi-disciplinary artist whose practice takes in painting, printmaking, sculpture, performance and photography. She is fascinated by the ways that the digital world affects our perception of our bodies and our interactions with others. Damaris... Continue Reading →
Header image courtesy of the artist Isobel Finlay is a contemporary artist who works in sculpture and drawing, creating organic forms and installations with mesh-like structures constructed from chainmail, crocheted fabrics and plaster. Winner of the Vanguard Court Studio Prize in 2019 (for recent graduates of Camberwell College of Arts), she has exhibited in group... Continue Reading →
Header image courtesy of the artist Eleanor Louise West (she/they) is an emerging artist and a recent graduate of Camberwell College of Arts. Mainly working in textiles using quilting, embroidery and crochet, the interdisciplinary artist explores their experiences as a queer woman. West’s solo exhibition ‘Feels Like Home’ at Compact Contemporary imagines the gallery as... Continue Reading →
Above image: Harmonize by Melissa Procter, 2021 Multidisciplinary artist Melissa Procter presents a series of miniature mixed media sculptures in her solo exhibition 'Balancing Act' at Compact Contemporary, from 1st - 22nd March 2021. Procter uses materials not traditionally used in fine art, preferring those more commonly found in DIY stores. The artist's practice involves creating abstract assemblages, sculpture and... Continue Reading →
Featured image: Alexandra surrounded by unpopped balloons in 'I instruct you to pop a balloon' (2018). All photos used in this interview courtesy the artist. Alexandra Francis is an artist working in Leeds whose work I first saw earlier in 2018 at her degree show at Leeds Beckett University. I was impressed by her interactive... Continue Reading →
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