Exhibition sheds light on the change of the seasons
At this time of year as the nights draw in and seasonal darkness begins to encroach on our daily lives, a new exhibition at Sunny Bank Mills in Farsley is lighting up the wintry gloom.
Soft Light, which is running in the gallery right up to Christmas, brings together paintings, photography, film, sculpture, installations and contemporary craft to investigate the power of light, its different moods and how it influences the way we perceive, and feel about, the world around us.
“The concept for the exhibition came about through thinking about the season,” says Anna Turzynski, arts director at Sunny Bank Mills. “I have changed how I programme in the gallery to reflect the four different seasons in the year and I was thinking about how it is quite an abrupt change from those long summer months into that rich autumn feeling and then into winter. I was wondering how visitors might be feeling about that change and thought that through the exhibition we could give people the space to reflect on that transition and change. There comes a time of year where we might struggle with that with our busy modern lives, especially in the run up to the festive period, and I was thinking about how our environment can help us through that transition. What I wanted to achieve through the curation of this show was for people to slow down and reflect and adapt to the season.”
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The show features a diverse range of works by 13 UK-based artists, makers and designers – Alan Stones, April, Key, Hannah Guy, Hannah Slater, Heline, Bassey, Jay Cskie, Jessie Butler, Joanna Byrne, Marucs Jacka, Orla Kane, Paul Merrick, Scarlet Brown and Zoe Eady – who are looking at light and its special qualities through a variety of different lenses. Their work fills the gallery with a celebration of light, from the bright glow of neon, to illuminated sculpture, nocturnal landscapes, glimpses of moonlight and the cosy illumination of domestic spaces.
“Light can transform the way we experience an object or space,” says north Yorkshire-based artist and maker Hannah Slater whose work, inspired by the shapes and textures of the natural landscape, explores the relationship between sculptural form and illumination. “My lighting collection reinterprets the distinctive rock formations of Brimham Rocks, translating these organic forms into functional objects that sit somewhere between sculpture and everyday design.”
The photography of Hannah Guy explores the transformative effect of artificial light on everyday scenes and surroundings after dark falls. Her images have been inspired by wintertime evening commutes and cycling home through north and east Leeds. “I began noticing how small shifts in light could texturally transform familiar places after dark,” she says. “A warmly lit window with a cat, another window with coloured pink and blue LEDs spilling into the street, or a puddle catching an unexpected blue glow.”
Glasgow-based artist Orla Kane takes a slow, meditative approach to her paintings which are often created over an extended period of time. “Working slowly and across seasons, I find my paintings allude to the passing of time and materials touching the surface of my work,” she says. “The show has made me think about how my work considers this transitional time of year, the shorter days and fading light. Working often late into the night as winter approaches, my work becomes flooded with artificial light, colder hues of paint compete with the warm feelings of retreat and hibernation.”
The exhibition is accompanied by a full programme of events including the Soft Light Sessions exploring sound and atmosphere created in collaboration with The Spinning Room Hi-fi. “We are really lucky at the mills that we have a community of other creative people nearby,” says Turzynski. “Spinning Room Hi-Fi have been working with us on intentional listening events. People have the opportunity to come in, sit down, relax, see the exhibition after dark and then listen to a whole record or a selection of music that the team has put together. It is a state-of-the-art listening experience.” Other events include a relaxing sound bath and a film club screening.
Turzynski hopes that people will come to the exhibition and stay to explore the whole mill complex. “I want to encourage people to visit this season – there is so much going on here,” she says. “And I think what we have managed to create in the gallery with this show is a welcoming environment where people can reflect on light and how our relationship with it changes during these months.”
Soft Light runs at the gallery, Sunny Bank Mills, Farsley, Tuesday-Sunday, 10am-4pm, until December 24. Free entry. sunnybankmills.co.uk