Shades of Hope

Even in darkness, there's a flicker of hope; even in the toughest times, there's beauty to be found.

April 5th — 4 - 6pm
April 6th — 2 - 4pm

In 2022, escaping the war in Ukraine, I found sanctuary in Norwich. This town became the place where I finally felt safe, where I met a lot of wonderful people, and where I started building my new life from scratch. A bit later, art became my refuge—a place to pour out my feelings and quiet the chaos in my mind. The magic of pouring acrylics captivated me; now, painting is my new way of speaking my truth.

"Shades of Hope" isn't just about pictures; it's about showing how even in darkness, there's a flicker of hope and a reminder that even in the toughest times, there's beauty to be found. My art mirrors my emotions, thoughts, and dreams, inviting you to see the world through my eyes. ”Shades of Hope” is a testament to resilience, a portrayal of the human spirit's capacity to find light even in the darkest of times. While some pieces may evoke a sense of darkness, beneath lies a profound sense of hope—a beacon guiding us through the depths of emotion.

The Crypt Art Gallery, generously provided by Norwich School, will host my event on the 5th and 6th of April. Come, not just to see, but to feel. This gathering is not just about art—it's about making a difference. 75% of the profits will be dedicated to supporting Ukrainian charities, offering a ray of hope to those still suffering from the consequences of war.

Admission is free and you can reserved tickets here.


Fragments of Time

April 10th - April 21st
Open daily 11am - 4pm

All three artists will be there every day for a chat about their recent work and would be delighted to see you.


Double Take

Recent work by James Evans, Susan Gunn, and Tassie Russell
10 - 24 May 2024

The exhibition Double Take comprises new and recent work by three artists with strong bonds to Suffolk and Norfolk. These are: sculptor, James Evans; painter, Susan Gunn; and painter, printmaker, and photographer Tassie Russell. Their work draws the viewer in, encouraging us to look closer and overturn our assumptions, exploring the familiar as locations for ambiguity. 

The idea that there is nothing more deceptive than certainty, is not new. These three artists prove the point using their considerable skills to make accomplished works of art that vacillate between initial appearance and more covert qualities that become evident upon further inquiry.

James Evans

James Evans has been navigating variants in his ceramic forms for several decades now. He uses surface textures, glazes, and firing techniques like Saggar to bring incident to folds and hollows in his sculpture. At first glance they could be interpreted as cast iron, flint, tendon, bone, or soft tissue. They’re not of course, the eye sometimes moves too quickly, unhindered by rational thought. The cast iron texture is so convincing James has recently made a series of deeply profiled ceramic tiles for a hotel interior that reference architectural features such as the decorative pressed metal ceiling panels that enhanced early twentieth century interiors across North America.

There are other remarkable deceptions in his tool kit. He has developed transfers applied with such delicacy to the surface of a trunk or torso shape that they read as tattooed skin or a bruised limb. These cadaverous remnants appear frozen in time. Their fragmentary quality hints at recollections of a once much-admired dinner service or the sun-faded catalogue of a tattoo parlour inventory. Memory and its slippage within a narrative is a powerful element of their sculptural appeal.

Susan Gunn

The modernist tradition of the monochrome established by Kazimir Malevich early in the twentieth century turned into a surprisingly rich range of outcomes in art, graphic design, and architecture. The union between the physical canvas and its single colour requires a rigour from the artist, that goes beyond pursuing an austere aesthetic or orthodoxy for the sake of it. Susan Gunn has created surfaces scattered with physical incident in canvas after canvas. Using a variety of techniques that include gesso, and mineral pigments that lay down their surfaces laced with delicate hairline breaks across an otherwise immaculate plain, their apparent fragility creates an emotional resonance for the viewer. In some paintings glints of metallic foil immersed within a colour field, maintain each canvases undeniable intensity, like highly desirable icons. The tension Susan creates between the precise control of her painted surfaces with these moments of vulnerability, set them apart. Her contribution to the lineage of monochromatic painting is assured.

Tassie Russell

Tassie Russell’s photographs could be viewed as a separate body of work. However, the striking black and white interiors in this exhibition are deceptive both in terms of what they depict, as well as how they inform her work as an established painter and printmaker. The large abstract paintings Tassie is known for are often built around a muted colour palette that reference the way light performs within the modernist interiors she has photographed by architects like Erno Goldfinger. There is a relationship between the different media she uses that moves her observations toward their outcome, as a print, painted canvas or photographic image.

The photographs in Double Take are interiors, but there is something amiss in how they read. The architectural space that fills each frame, does not quite make sense. Unobservant viewers could easily dismiss these beautifully composed images depicting the trappings of an English country house for exactly what they seem. Appearances can be deceptive. The photographs are of a magnificent Georgian Doll’s House. It is a fragile and much-loved plaything as well as family heirloom, that Tassie has been recording as if it were the subject of one of her full-scale photographic projects. Each room is a time capsule of what was ‘of the moment’ in English interiors during the late eighteenth century, reproduced in large black and white prints and smaller, colour detail prints. The evidential nature of photography ensure we take these sober images at face value. The undertow of doubt undermines their veracity only on closer inspection.