Living Layers at Buzz Gallery
From 24th November – 22nd December
Mon – Fri 10 – 3pm***
Meet the Artists/Opening Event Friday 1st December 6 – 8:30pm
During 2023 Rotherham-based artist’s collective OUTLINE has been developing NEW work in collaboration with communities in central Rotherham, Brinsworth, Bramley and Rawmarsh. This exhibition will serve as a culmination and celebration of this wealth of artistic activity and consists of paintings, poetry, photography, drawings, prints, sculpture and video.
Overall ‘LIVING LAYERS: an exhibition’ offers a vibrant, varied, intergenerational representation of the creativity of the artists and the communities that OUTLINE has worked with - layered with memories and experiences of Rotherham, and reflections on its many personal histories and collective heritage. See below for further information on the artists and their work.
OUTLINE is a collective of SIX Rotherham-based artists: Kevan Cadman, Neath Champion-Shorr, Ken Horne, Tair Rafiq, Uzma Rani, Teresa Sayner and Sheffield-based artist Paul Evans. The artists met during a residency at Clifton Park Museum, during which they created a set of ‘Cabinets of Curiosity’ featuring imaginative connections between natural and man-made objects from the museum archives.
Living Layers is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
There will be a special event on Friday 1st December 6 – 8:30pm, with a chance to meet the artists and discuss the work in the exhibition. EVERYONE IS WELCOME.
***BUZZ gallery is open on an informal basis – please message us via Instagram or Facebook to be sure of entry.
About the Work
Kevan Cadman has created images of the workers at Parkgate Iron & Steel Works in 1902 and the drinkers in Maltby Miner’s Welfare Club, which show some of the layers of Culture and Heritage that go to make up modern-day Rotherham. Kevan has also been working on a series of films that depict layers of time – questioning what changes and what stays the same. Broadly speaking these films are inspired by the Gaelic saying, “What comes with the wind, will go with the rain.”
Neath Champion-Shorr has been working on a mixed media 3D map. For certain elements of the pieces she has collaborated with Rotherham based dancer Jacky Westwood and ceramicist Caroline Lee. The final pieces will form a multi-media map that represents elements of Rotherham’s living layer, the artist’s lived experience and explores themes that include belonging, trusting, connection, self-exploration and claiming space.
Paul Evans will be creating a new series of drawings in traditional and digital media that draws from the collective’s archive of images and collects together his personal reflections on time spent with the OUTLINE collective and in the communities of Rotherham, Brinsworth, Bramley and Rawmarsh.
Inspired by Rock Core Samples that geologists use to explore layers of sediments, Ken Horne has created a series of sculptures made with plaster and plastic found objects. Representing ‘Cores of Memory’ these sculptures are both intriguing and slightly unsettling.
Tair Rafiq has been working with his friend and collaborator, photographer Anna Kozak, to produce a visual journey of his formative years growing up in Rotherham in the neighbourhood of Eastwood. He lived there from 1970 to 2010 and has seen the area go through a great deal of change. He recently revisited his old neighbourhood and walked the paths he used to as a child. These wanderings inspired him to become the story maker he is today.
Exploring the 'living layers' of nature, Uzma Rani has co-created a large series of small-scale paintings with members of the communities that OUTLINE have visited during the project. Using alcohol inks and mixed media, and brought into being over the course of a year, her aim is to zoom in on the details of nature that we love. The result will be a very beautiful collective artwork, layered with seasonal influences and multiple perspectives.
Teresa Sayner remembers talking to her Dad about him watching salmon spawn in the River Don in Rotherham during the 1930's, but when she was a teenager the river was almost devoid of life. Recently, during another project, she learned that the river is now thriving and that salmon have returned. In this new project she has been exploring this connection to her father and the town, and has invited people of all ages to share their memories of Rotherham. These recollections have been added to a printed salmon and together they create a ‘shoal of memories’ that has travelled with the exhibition as has moved from location to location. To accompany this collective artwork Teresa will be creating a new portrait of her father for this exhibition.
About the Artists
Kevan is an artist originally from Sheffield, now based in Rotherham. Working predominantly as a printmaker and sculptor, he is inspired by ancient myths, legends and folklore; particularly the place they occupy in our understanding of the modern world.
Kevan Cadman | Instagram: @groovewareartist | Website: groovewareart.com
Neath’s current practise mixes mediums and has a thread of movement throughout the conceptual pieces she is creating. Though she began as a movement and dance artist she is continuously learning and expanding her professional artistic strands.
Neath Champion-Shorr | Instagram: @neathchampionshorr
Fearing pretentious hyperbole Ken would prefer to say his work involves "cobbling stuff together" and leave it at that. Pressed further, he might comment on how he layers contrasting textures and materials to build pieces with message and meaning, amusing himself in the process.
Tair is a self-taught story maker and world builder. He has been writing since the age of 8 and has lots of worlds to share.
Tair Rafiq | Instagram: @terrificwriter | Website: https://tairrafiq.wixsite.com/terrificwriter
Uzma is a Rotherham based abstract/impressionist artist and calligrapher, working predominantly with alcohol ink and acrylic/oil paint. Uzma creates mixed media art inspired by nature and her surroundings, as well as her cultural heritage and religion.
Uzma Rani | Instagram: @uzmaraniarts | Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/UzmaRaniArts | Website: www.uzmarani.com
Teresa is a mixed media artist from Rotherham. Teresa uses layers of paper, lithography, colour and pattern to express connection to her subjects and attempts to trap their essence within her work.
Teresa Sayner | Instagram: @teresasaynerart | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teresasaynerart | Website www.teresasaynerart.com
Paul is an artist based in Sheffield. Paul works in a variety of media ranging from drawing to virtual reality and has a particular interest in working with people to explore science, nature and ideas of heritage in their broadest sense.
Paul Evans | Instagram: @paul.k.evans.7 | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulevansartist | Website: https://www.axisweb.org/p/paulevans/
OUTLINE | Instagram: outlineart23 | Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/outlineart