Here is something I wrote for an exhibition at The Cornerstone Gallery earlier in the year.

As you walk into the Cornerstone Gallery at Hope University, the Sutton Taylor exhibition is situated in lit cabinets around the parameter walls of the ground floor exhibition space, rather than in the middle of the room. This gives the viewer the opportunity to view the pieces from different angles, and admire the lustre that glows, shines and bounces all around the spot lit glass display cabinets. They reflect light, sheer gloss, the great splendor of the shiny metallic surfaces of this pottery, which comprises a collection of oversized vessels.

From a distance, the large pieces look alluring, their heights approximately 50cm on average for the vases with the bowls being around 15x 25cm, on closer inspection they show the progression in both style and colour. The journey begins with the more pastel shades of ‘Bowl with flower pattern’ (1986) coming right up to date with the geometric style and bold colours of ‘Dark purple and green bowl’ (2010). These pieces assault the senses with such gusto; the garish bright colours look like precious stones in a jewellery shop or a part of a priceless hoard of treasure. The shine attracts the viewer to them like a magpie and from a distance the surface glistens and looks smooth, but on approaching, the tones, shades and colours change, and also the bumps and imperfections are clearly visible making them all more desirable as pieces to be ‘lusted’ after.

Taylor is a lifelong self-taught ceramicist, who is “attracted to bright and changing light conditions in expansive skies, and moving-water-to light through foliage to patterns and juxtaposition of colour in the landscape to pattern of light and shade in rock faces or individual pebbles”. (www.hartgallery.co.uk/artists/taylor ).

In the middle of the ground floor gallery space is the staircase leading up to the next level, where the first part of the other exhibition collectively called ‘Quartered, Drawn and Hung’, (a macabre pun on the proper name for a death sentence to be ‘hung. quartered and drawn) is displayed. These, unlike the Sutton Taylor pieces, are works by different artists linked to the University. At the top of the first staircase is a collection of small white pottery pieces, and sketchbooks in glass cabinets. On the back wall, various artists have explored their perception through drawing using various media. Two of the art works aren’t conventional. The first, a cross-stitch sample, by Fiona Ward (2010) is framed by its own hoop with a piece of embroidered red writing communicating the message ‘the miserable have no other medicine. But only hope’. A quote taken from Shakespeare’s Measure for measure. “I studied this at A-level and it really stayed with me; there are a good many layers to it and always something new to think about it. The line used seems to fit well with the present way of the world. I chose the medium because I’ve always enjoyed textiles and used to do a lot of sewing and I am also interested in how the use of textiles has been seen through the history of art” (Fiona Ward).

The second work approach to drawing is one which challenges our perception and approach to drawing in a traditional format using media such as charcoal, pencil and line etc., and stood out among the other mainly traditional approaches to the subject of mark making.

Tony Smith’s painterly mixed media pieces are small, brightly coloured, and experimental.

“ I like something which is formally quite under-spoken and subtle like minimalist art, and in particular how minimalist painting is displayed via something bawdy and over the top like a banner. There exists a paradox or contrast between the work and the mode of presentation” (Tony Smith).

Another set of stairs led to the final level. For this part of the exhibition accessing the works was more limited; the balcony forces the viewer to follow the drawings around one way or the other and in a certain order rather than personal choice.

The Drawing exhibition makes the viewer question what drawing is, and the title suggests that the creators of these pieces have each ripped apart this traditional form of visual expression in their own way.