Encounter, Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh
'Encounter is a contemporary exhibition bringing the work of Sophia Pauley and Nancy Nightingale into conversation. A collaborative response to the industrial space at Patriothall using their contrasting visual languages and alternative materials. Sponsor: WASPS Studios programme.
Sophia focuses on the spaces in between the physical forms of the urban landscape, using a bright contrasting palette to accentuate the flowing shapes. She recreates her experiences of particular places by recording, using drawing and photography, then remembering and re-imagining, both visually and emotionally. She aims to transfer these experiences into a more interactive environment for the viewer, initiating movement around the exhibited work. This series of paintings have been made in response to the space at Patriothall as well as everyday encounters around the City, creating order from this sensory overload.
The focus of Nancy’s practice is the translation of light and shadow within spaces possessing a cinematic quality into textured mark making, and more recently extending this theme through photography and filmmaking. The construction of space is made with sensitivity to materiality, imitating visual moments containing both harsh and subtle light. The artist’s main body of work is often process-led which allows for a controlled restriction of information by removing detail, abstracting each space that would usually be regarded as something ordinary or routine. By abstracting the original space, Nancy is able to capture the mood without the need for explicit definition. Nancy’s work asks the viewer to look a little differently at the moments that pass them by, and how interaction with light plays a huge role in how a place can be perceived.'
Review by Vivien Devlin: HERE
Image credits: Murray Orr
