Exhibitions
Treasures: Scavenged Finds from Black Ven by Christine Allison
Objects scavenged from Black Ven beach inspire Lyme artist Christine Allison to paint them, celebrating their beauty and giving them another life
The next exhibition at the Lyme Regis Museum’s Rotunda Gallery runs from 2 April to 23 May, is entitled “Treasures: Scavenged finds from Black Ven,” and will feature recent work by popular local artist Christine Allison. As she explains, “The blue lias clay at the base of Black Ven is washed twice daily by the sea and continues to reveal crazy pieces of rusty metal, fragments of decorated china, pieces of sea glass and strange objects … all remnants from the cliff-top Victorian tip, which continues to collapse onto the beach. I like to scavenge. I like the thrill of finding an oddity. I like to imagine the life each treasure has had. Who ate off that plate or drank out of that cup or fixed that bit of metal?”
“Each object,” she continues,”has a story, a history. I like to arrange these treasures into assemblages, juxtaposing unlikely pieces together; making new relationships between fragile, decorated fragments of china and weathered shapes of metal, richly coloured with the patina of time. These assembled treasures then become the subject matter for my artworks. Through my drawings and paintings, I celebrate their unique beauty and give them another life.”
To accompany the exhibition Christine will lead 2 weekend workshops. Each workshop starts with a scavenging walk to Black Ven at low tide on Saturday to collect fragments and objects from the beach. Then a full day workshop on Sunday in the education room at Lyme Regis Museum, making drawings inspired by the ‘finds’ of the previous day. The dates for these workshops are 27 & 28 April and 11 & 12 May: they are open to 8 people and cost £65 per weekend. For bookings, contact the Museum on 01297 443370.
“Each object,” she continues,”has a story, a history. I like to arrange these treasures into assemblages, juxtaposing unlikely pieces together; making new relationships between fragile, decorated fragments of china and weathered shapes of metal, richly coloured with the patina of time. These assembled treasures then become the subject matter for my artworks. Through my drawings and paintings, I celebrate their unique beauty and give them another life.”
To accompany the exhibition Christine will lead 2 weekend workshops. Each workshop starts with a scavenging walk to Black Ven at low tide on Saturday to collect fragments and objects from the beach. Then a full day workshop on Sunday in the education room at Lyme Regis Museum, making drawings inspired by the ‘finds’ of the previous day. The dates for these workshops are 27 & 28 April and 11 & 12 May: they are open to 8 people and cost £65 per weekend. For bookings, contact the Museum on 01297 443370.
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