A taste of Open Studios at The Base, Greenham
Open Studios: INSIGHT 2022 exhibition at The Base at Greenham until May 29. Review by LIN WILKINSON
New life has been breathed into this year’s Open Studios taster show, with far more diverse work in all genres, much greater representation of 3D work and many new names in the mix. It makes for a varied and lively exhibition.
Among the jewellers, Ros Hatt shows two wide silver rings, one laced like a medieval bodice, the form of the other flying out from the centre. Paula White’s Ice Maiden Necklace, impressive in quartz and silver, contrasts forms and the opacity of the materials.
Shirley Eccles’ resolved glasswork is exemplified by the exquisitely simple assymetric form and semi-transparency of her small glass vase, infused with soft browns and ochres.
Cait Gould’s traditional cream pitcher, with minimal, blue-painted landscape elements, pleases with its simplicity. Jan Nethercot’s ceramic Conch Pod combines organic form, earthy colours and rough surface texture.
Laura Cranstoun has hung four tiles as a formal, unified wallpiece, the coloured surfaces alive with vibrant mark-making. Lorna Goldsmith surmounts a neutrally-coloured woven square with cut, black-rubber elements, to create a coolly monochromatic wall construction.
Several artists look to pop art for inspiration. Ben Honisett’s digitally-drawn prints Retro Stars and All-Stars and Stripes perhaps also reference Patrick Caulfield, with their bold, simplified, outlined forms and areas of flat but vibrant primary colour. Mark Bijak’s pop art Rainbow Bicycle, complete with chain, is propped up against a wall.
Photographer Gina Soden has made formal compositions about abandoned places: human presence is long gone. Les Histoires is a quiet image in subtle tones of the corner of a book- and paper-strewn study, now dusty and forgotten. Her photograph of an empty swimming pool somehow still echoes with the sounds of those who once swam there.
Materiality is important in Hedley John Smyth’s collage, incorporating newspaper and enjoyably brash commercial paint. Almost a series of linked posters, it gives a real sense of city life, busy and interconnected, yet atomised. Bold colour is also important in Susan Line’s rhythmic Music in the Air.
Sculptor Diana Pattenden makes superbly crafted traditional bronzes, with the small scale of Angel the Hen particularly appealing. Katy Stevens’ colourful constructed fibreglass pig makes the viewer smile.
Woodworkers include Jon Townsin, whose vertical floor lamp exploits the colour, texture and malleability of contrasting woods ̶ walnut, oak and ash ̶ and Erica Adams shows functional, aesthetically pleasing willow work.
As expected, landscape painters are well represented. Michael Norcross’ bluebell wood nudges towards hyper-realism; Miranda Bryan takes an impressionistic approach in Wayfarers’ Walk; and Gaila Anne Adair’s semi-abstracted, impastoed oil is freely and vigorously worked.
Lisa Mounteer Watson’s mixed-media The Vastness of Connection allies abstracted forms with an enjoyment of colour; Amanda Bates shows fine draftsmanship in her coloured ink drawing of tangled tree roots; and David H Jones’ Yellow Fusion is delicate and masterly.