5 @ Aberystwyth Arts Centre

by Lucy Harvey
Some shots of the massive gallery space at Aberystwyth Arts Centre which is currently housing a digital installation by Ralph Juergen Colmar, sculptures by Katherine Sullivan, contemporary works by Priya Chohan, paintings by Annabelle Shelton and contemporary metal work by myself.

The exhibition shows the fantastic diversity which the Artist Residency scheme at Aberystwyth Arts Centre hosts. I'm excited to showcase alongside artists of this caliber and in such an airy space. As a relatively new practitioner from a craft background I have never had this extent of space to exhibit my work and the exhibition gave me the opportunity to showcase my floor based installation as well as objects collected from the seafront during my residency last winter alongside my crafted artefacts.

Having spent the three months of my residency with Katherine Sullivan it was great to see her photo assemblages presented in their lightbox which elevated the eerie qualities of the domestic architecture and female figures which she sourced again from Ceredigion Museum. The subtley sinister lead shoes from her previous residency in Ireland and her decorative domestic sculptures from this residency hold an interesting discourse together and provide a colour palette that seemed to run throughout the show.

Ralph's animation is a remarkable feat, I find it difficult to imagine that it was conceived in the same Creative Unit that I inhabited for my residency. As ever I found the attention to detail in Annabelle's contemporary landscapes mind boggling, I know she'll find a lot of inspiration in Aberystwyth. Finally, Priya's temporal installations really inspired me; that materials so lowly as wax and sand could come together to have such presence in a gallery is quite an achievement.

Artist talks from both Annabelle and Priya both focused on this idea of time and space and it was interesting as a maker to hear Priya discuss the issue of control in the manipulation of materials and in their presentation. The exhibition gives us all this platform to share part of the residency process with visitors through three outcomes with the work of myself, Ralph and Katherine, and two starting points with Annabelle and Priya. I look forward to seeing the fruits of their residency, good luck guys!

5 is on at Aberystwyth Arts Centre until the 14th July 2010.
Further information here.