Darkness and Light

An Exhibition at the Bleddfa Centre, July 2021

“ Following a time of uncertainty during which we have witnessed light and darkness in equal measure, both literally and metaphorically, it came as a welcome change to be able to see a real exhibition again. Darkness and Light is described in the exhibition information as ‘a celebration of the weather systems of the Earth, the oceans, sky and forests: a lament for the change in climate, for the shadows cast’, and as a ‘collaborative project that has evolved over three years’. Taken together these ideas offer a space for reflection and, ultimately, for hope that we might now find ourselves on the brink of emerging into something resembling normality. For all that, uncertainty remains as the pandemic ebbs and flows around the planet, as if we cannot yet feel completely free from events and matters beyond our control, and cannot at this stage be certain whether or not we ever shall.

The central focus of Jane’s work for this exhibition is to treat darkness as a positive entity rather than as an element to be feared. Using a mixture of media including collagraph, drawing and sculpture, her work can be viewed as a journey from darkness towards light, using elements from the natural world as well as from her imagination. These themes reveal themselves slowly, being implicit rather than explicit in her work, putting the onus on the viewer to look, then see, and then consider their personal response to what is presented. That journey is, after all, one that each of us takes, not only in the daily cycle from night to day, but also in our lifetimes, in which we emerge from darkness and gradually learn about the world around us as we live our lives, before we return to darkness, or another form of light. As the journey reaches a place from which it can continue, hope is present as a positive element.”  Richard Noyce, July 2021.