PAPER will exhibit the work of nine North and North West artists this October all have completed the Tracing PAPER mentoring scheme. 



The show will see a diverse and eclectic array of themes from magic, entrapment, vermin, play, Celtic mandalas, a Potentia [sic], fragmentation and the human psyche, whilst furthering the medium of paper. The show features Linda Hemmersbach’s who is a John Moore Paining prize nomminee and Lisa Denyer who is a finalist for the BEEP painting prize.  

After six months on the Tracing PAPER mentoring scheme, nine Artists from the North West, will exhibit new works based on paper at PAPER. The exhibition will mark the end of 10 months of professional mentorship, development and critical discourse. Each of the artists involved will exhibit new work on paper, developed throughout the mentoring scheme.

Chloe Ashley intends to present a work that encompasses the site of PAPER utilising a 35mm camera, the negatives developed from the investigation will form the imagery for the photographic work. 

Alan Baker is interested in ‘Vermin culture’ (a term given to various species of animal which are considered a ‘pest’), this inspired him to produce a number of sculptures that look like traps, whilst using a traditional drawing technique to document these temporary structural forms. 

Lisa Denyer’s paintings look at ideas around containment and escapism. The work made during the Tracing PAPER programme has largely focussed on dialogue between materials; the use of collage including sandpaper, card, found wood, acrylic and emulsion. 

Hannah Farrell photographs document sculptural installations created solely for the camera. By combining portraiture, landscapes, found objects and raw materials, here Morecombe provides the setting for her new work: Navigating the restless spaces between freedom and entrapment, mundanity and magic. 

Lesley Halliwell’s new works on card explore pattern and pattern generation with a particular emphasis on the tension between surface and structure using the formal language of geometry she draws on a range of cultural and folk traditions from; Islamic and Celtic art, Indian kolems and Western perspectival techniques. 

Linda Hemmersbach’s work is concerned with experiences of landscape and place, which are translated into abstract works; recently she has become drawn to the fragment and ruin as a site for discovery and re-imagining. These have been explored through ephemeral drawing and installations, responding to and often incorporating found material.

Jane Lawson has been formulating a Potentia (a possible future; a different form of social organisation; a better world; a society organised to prioritise human flourishing and environmental sustainability). Lawson’s Potenia includes The Clangers, Buffy, and mycorrhizae, whilst drawing upon these visual motifs for her new work.

Becky Peach is interested how art can enhance cognitive ability inspired by aspects of child’s play within the adult, her current work observes socially constructed behaviour in conjunction with man made spaces, whilst creating objects that encourage the viewer to perform as an act of ‘social disobedience’. 

Erin Sevink-Johnston work draws a connection between writing and painting often through her personal experiences and a fictitious narrative, her work strives to fabricate ‘memories’ that are real to her, after all ‘…fairies are real’. 

Manchester based gallery PAPER have a strong commitment to developing opportunities available for local artists and has mentored the 9 artists since January. Over the course of the Tracing PAPER mentoring scheme the local artists have had the opportunity to meet and discuss their work with each other and the PAPER team. 

Arts professionals were invited to critique the artists, such as Jenny Syson, Director of Syson in Nottingham, Will Lunn, Director of Cøpperfield, in London, and Eleanor Clayton, Curator at The Hepworth Wakefield.

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