YORK painters Emma Whiting and Samantha Swales Snowden are showcasing their new work alongside the increasingly popular London ceramicist Yuta Segawa in Lotte Inch Gallery's autumn exhibition in Bootham, York.
On show until November 11, The Nature Of Colour is influenced by the vibrant colours of the changing seasons outside while celebrating the work of two of York’s own creative forces.
"In doing so, it continues to champion creative talent in the north while also offering the region the opportunity to see work by contemporary makers from beyond the city," says curator Lotte Inch. "This is an exciting, emotive and vivid display, gaining inspiration from landscape, nature and the personal experiences drawn from these places."
Born in 1969, Emma Whiting grew up in the Midlands and studied English at university in Oxford before moving to Yorkshire, her home for more than 20 years now.
She is a teacher and a mother and has always drawn, painted and made things. “I have come to accept that, as an artist, I need variety," Whiting says. "So my current work is abstract, but I also paint figurative work from observation, recollection or imagination."
Whiting makes work in a variety of media and sometimes in three dimensions. "She is prompted to create work by all kinds of factors: stories, the weather, words, people, places and objects, emotions, nature, and by paint itself, which continues to enthral this modest, yet highly competent artist," says Lotte.
Work by Samantha Swales Snowden
Samantha Swales Snowden studied fine art and painting at Hull School of Art and has lived in York ever since, now working from within the city walls at PICA studios, an 18th century print workshop transformed into artist-led initiative that holds workspaces for 18 artists and writers.
"Sam also has a background in garden design and landscaping and while this has temporarily taken a back seat to painting and motherhood, this training clearly plays a significant role in her creative practice when in the studio," says Lotte.
"Sam’s subject matter alternates back and forth between external landscapes and an internal emotional space, often within the same work. Eventually each piece becomes a pared-down composition of colour and space removed entirely from any semblance of representation, describing only its own physicality."
Yuta Segawa, who lives and works in London, has risen to fame over the past 18 months with his hand-crafted miniature pottery. For the York exhibition, he has made small and delicate ceramics to compliment the work of the two painters, picking out some of the tonal highlights in their paintings.
"Pushing the limits of micro craft, Yuta individually throws each design before hand-finishing using a colour spectrum of over 500 specially developed glazes," says Lotte.
Born in Shizuoka, Japan, in 1988, Segawa studied in Tokyo before attending Camberwell College of Arts and completing his Masters there in 2015. Since then, he has exhibited extensively across Britain, Europe and beyond and latterly he has had a solo show at the Open Eye Gallery in Edinburgh.
Opening hours at Lotte Inch Gallery are Mondays, 10am to 5pm, and Wednesday to Saturday, 10am to 5.30pm.
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