Life in Stillness Preview

In many inanimate objects we see and feel life. Life in Stillness is an exhibition where five artists bring consciousness to their subjects through different sources of inspiration and use of media.

In the windows we'll see the usual high impact art and once again we'll be featuring sculpture. Dawny Tootes uses recycled aluminium from discarded household objects to create fluidity in her tree sculptures that have an apparent organic quality. These large pieces interchange between tree and female human form when seen from different viewpoints. In the rear gallery a 13ft high sculpture will dominate the space, needing to be rebuilt in the gallery for the show. Dawny's wall mounted pieces are figure landscapes where the female form is used to reflect the curves of nature.

Evocative figures appear from the depth of Fran Williams' oil paintings. Vivid colour and texture almost mask the face and body of her subjects. The strength of colour and free use of the brush are in contrast to the vulnerability of the portraiture. These are images that you can see through and discover a strong emotional connection with a person who has mystique and a story to be told.

Continuing the theme of female figurative work we have Ann Goodfellow's sculptures. Using only the sense of touch, unusual markings emerge on the self modelled ceramic bodies. A heightened awareness of her body creates exaggerated scale of the relationship between head and torso. There is energy and sensitivity in the cold, hard material that brings the figures to life and demand attention.

In the second half of the gallery we dedicate the space to photography, as part of the Bristol Festival of Photography. Two artists bring life into their images using different subjects and styles.

Frank Drake captures the music of his subjects in the drama of live performance. Limited edition large prints of images from his book 'Sounds of Music' feature photos of musicians from various album covers, commissions and WOMAD festivals around the world. Frank has had the unique opportunity to access the unguarded emotions of the performers. Signed books will also be available at the gallery.

In the front of the second gallery we feature the photography of Chris Parks. An ethereal world is created through his dynamic fluid paintings which capture light, movement and depth in a totally unique way. Using mixed media within a liquid medium, Chris creates continually changing images that develop over time and are frozen at a particular moment through photography. The paintings are naturally occurring events without digital manipulation. They only exist for a moment before they evolve and are lost for ever. In the basement installation room we are showing a stunningly beautiful film by Chris with movement of colour and shape that is quite mesmerising.

Click here to see images from a small selection of work from the show.

Life in Stillness runs from April 15 to May 30, 2010.