2nd October – 3rd November 2024
Nick H Moor
Peter Heaton
Fernanda Cortes
Dark Matters welcomes the onset of the short days and long nights. Myths and legends of an ‘in-between’ play a part in the Winter celebrations with All Hallows Eve and the end of British Summer time. This transition into darkness offers infusions of light and dark psychological states. The artists exhibiting in Dark Matters offer us the in-between and the other. It’s an opportunity to collect timeless and affordable art.
The Artists
Fernanda Cortes is a Mexican artist known for her sculptural works. As a sculptor of anthropomorphic medium-sized ceramic figures and the writer of their stories, her themes explore human moral dilemmas. She creates characters that traverse psychological states and navigate overwhelming emotional density, questioning the dehumanisation inherent in the human condition—a sort of contemporary mythology. She explores how narratives shape mental imagery, and the skill required to transform them into sculptures enriches her storytelling. Now based in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire.
Using my imagination to create anthropomorphic forms, I seek to create figures that emerge from an overwhelming emotional density and question whether my subjects are marked by a dehumanisation that I apprehend as a general condition. I can only say that they hover in the realm of the in-between of human and non-human. Qualities swirl about in this realm, like infusions of light and dark, but invariably they loom in a state of abject otherness. In this state there is a quality of a fold of force and emergence in which questions are emitted. Says Fernanda.
She has a foundation in Product Design at The National Autonomous University of Mexico. In 2013, she was an exchange student at the ENSCI Les Ateliers: École Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle in Paris. As she approached the end of her undergraduate studies in 2014, she was awarded a scholarship that led her to Canada. At the Université de Moncton Faculté des Arts Visuels, she wrote her dissertation titled ‘A Compendium of Mexican Cooking Utensils’. This academic year not only deepened her understanding of art but also ignited a profound love for sculpting.
Fernanda Cortes pursued further education at the Royal College of Art in London. She was honoured to be granted the RCA Innovation Scholarship, which allowed her to immerse herself in the Ceramics & Glass Department for her MA programme. Her MA dissertation was titled ‘Clay and Suicide’. She explored and defined how the process of making is nourished by our life experiences, even those that can be perceived as brutal are fruitful for inspiring the process of making. She completed her MA in 2016. Balancing her own artistic pursuits with teaching responsibilities, she actively contributes to the ceramics’ community.
Peter Heaton
Whilst Landscape often forms the obvious subject matter of Peter’s photography work, there is also a concern of working with what has been termed ‘Spirit of Place’. He is driven to create something that has resonance, feeling and meaning. This can manifest itself in complex detailed, layered images, or simpler balanced harmonious compositions with internal space. The transformative qualities of the British weather and the subsequent fleeting changes to the lighting that it creates are central to Peter’s work. These conditions enable one to view the familiar and see the unfamiliar, and in an instant can make the mundane interesting, and the interesting invisible…
Peter studied Fine Art at Nottingham Trent University and later gained an M.A. in Fine Art from Leeds Metropolitan University. He has continued to exhibit widely since 1987, his work being featured in many publications and on both BBC and ITV Television. He has work in private collections in Europe and the USA.
Nick H Moor
The photographer is bucking the trend of the current ‘interconnected society’. Nick H Moor is not part of the social media frenzy or happy with a presence on the internet. Information concerning Nick’s history, or the ‘back story,’ is absent. Part of the ‘in-between’ of social behaviour, he occasionally reveals new photography work. The images consider the Japanese philosophers’ writing of ‘The Uncanny Valley’. This is a concept introduced in the 1970s by Professor of Robotics Masahiro Mori. It refers to the discomfort or unease that humans feel when presented with something that appears close enough to be human but is not entirely convincing. This exhibition offers us the opportunity to explore this work.
Sarah Williams
The paintings of Sarah Williams are rooted in personal narratives. The exquisite painting conceptually appears with textural marks and shapes, to construct a visual realm that seamlessly blends abstract and figurative elements. The aim is to elicit a nuanced emotional response; allowing viewers to interpret and connect individually with the expressive tapestry. Employing a diverse array of materials, including encaustic, enamels, and spray paint. The primary focus revolves around the meticulous use of oils on stretched canvases. Relocating to the picturesque Yorkshire Wolds has ignited a newfound passion for nature, accentuated by the mesmerising dawn chorus echoing daily. Observing the northern colours, marks, and silhouettes of the surrounding environment, along with its ever-changing nuances throughout the UK seasons, has become a captivating source of inspiration. This collection of paintings for Dark Matters, aims to capture and showcase nature’s intrinsic beauty, placing these natural wonders as an unobstructed centrepiece in the painting – abstracted and free from the distractions of their surroundings. Graduating with distinction from Norwich Art School in 1984 with a first-class BA Honours degree in fine art, Sarah received the prestigious Stowell’s Trophy Award at The Royal Academy. This success granted an unconditional place for an MA in painting at the Royal Academy, paving the way for exhibitions spanning England and Switzerland, where a studio was with the esteemed Kurt Rup.