Exhibition: Facing the Planet by Tessa Coe & Jane Coyle

The friends wanted to draw upon their separate ways of seeing our planet, to collaborate in a new way of storytelling. They have put the paintings to work in leading a visual and lyrical conversation around memory, place and changing times. The title Facing the Planet is a signpost to the urgent need for collective scrutiny and protection of our threatened natural environment.

Jane selected ten of Tessa’s paintings. Each one sparked a memory or a reflection on locations, literary references and personal experiences. Punctuated by references to the Celtic and Mediterranean worlds, they travel from the rural environment of childhood to the landscapes of Brittany and beyond.

Tessa’s mosaic-like paintings are inspired by the water meadows, the river and estuary around her home. Each image is accompanied by a short account of the journey towards a resolution of the piece, as the artist seeks to blend her creative vision with her distinctive scientific rationale.