Abstract/Narrative

Sarah Wiseman Gallery is pleased to start the 2025 exhibition programme with the group show, Abstract/Narrative. The exhibition will present 6 abstract artists and examine the narratives that underpin their creative practice. This cross-disciplinary show includes painting, printmaking, ceramic and sculpture.

Gallery Director Sarah Wiseman says, ‘Abstraction has a complex relationship with many art viewers, and it is often simplified to the spatial relationships or colour and form. I have always felt that that pure abstraction comes from a place of deep looking and understanding of our world.

Painter Charlotte Cornish works with translucent layers of acrylic, poured and dipped onto the canvas with each colour, retaining its integrity and creating resonant vibrations across the work.  She says, ‘Landscape, nature and place continue to be sources of inspiration for me. My compositions are explorations of things I have seen, the feelings and thoughts linked to these significant places. Colour is always playing an essential role.’

Simon J Harris follows the journey of the figure through his compositions. His practise is often reductive, what at first looks like a painterly surface is often marks made during the removal of paint. Simon recently spoke to us about how his paintings have all essentially been portraits of the self, those nearby, the view that he has been experiencing and how he/they relate to the space they occupied.

Rebecca Hardaker’s approach to her painting is intuitive and physical. She works with her hands, fully submerging herself into the process of sculpting the paint, creating works that are landscapes of her imagination. As she makes her way around the canvas, she instinctively decides whether each section should be developed or left raw. Poetry is a driving force of her creations, with lines from poems becoming titles of paintings.

Silkscreen printmaker Jonathan Lawes has a signature appreciation of colour and form, creating abstract compositions through organic layers of shapes and forms that develop over time. He has a genuine enthusiasm for the development and evolution allowed by the printmaking process. His work is a conversation between the process, colour and form.

Ceramic artist Eddie Knevett uses torn paper to create spontaneous shapes on coloured matt finish clays against the pot’s white stoneware or black earthenware. Eddie is inspired by WWI dazzle camouflage, along with the Jerry Anderson’s Thunderbirds. Eddie says, ‘In this collection, the colours of the seashore where I live come into play. The everchanging contrast of colours bring joyous light to my work.’

Each of Caroline Saunders sculptures begin as a story, thought-provoking and reflective. Her materials are often recycled and found, drawing from her studio’s woodland surroundings. She direct carves into the wood to reveal surprises, resulting in tactile and playful pieces. In this exhibition, Caroline had carved from the oak of a storm-felled tree discovered in a bog next to her workshop 10 years ago.

The exhibition brings a conversation around the different approaches within an abstract practise, what it means to the creator and how it interacts with the viewer. This inspiring group of artists with highly individual approaches will unlock a greater insight into abstraction.