Artists Aged 16 - 25
Brad Race
Sophie May Victoria Gray
Hannah Kelly
04/09/23 - 07/10/23
Brad Race
Born and raised in the North of England Brad has always had a strong fascination for his surroundings both old and new, Brad has found through his work an ever-growing want to explore the life cycle of both life and death. In an attempt to bridge the gap for both himself and the audience, in his early work, Brad experimented rapidly with colour and form and it's a methodology he still carries with him to this day. Brad has a strong passion for both historical art of the last 200 years, his modern practice is based on combining methods and characteristics of some of his most beloved artists into his second passion nature. Brad has a strong need to document and study nature both by paintbrush and by camera, his work really boils down to exploring the natural world through a modern naturalist lens.
Brad's work is Acrylic on canvas and covers the wide topic of naturalism, it is largely based around landscapes and subjects such as animals, and his work often takes an impressionistic or surreal approach causing distortion or sometimes outright confusion as to what the audience is viewing, his biggest influence is Vincent Van Gogh, to such a point he will often imitate the way he would work outside with easel and canvas when weather permits it. He finds this exciting as the feedback is very organic, the canvases are unframed and ready to mount on walls.
Sophie May Victoria Gray
As a disabled, queer, neurodivergent, 23-year-old, art is Sophie's life. They are a multimedia artist who has produced work on canvas, as sculptures, both large and miniature, digital artwork, and a variety of recycled projects with found items. Sophie explores self-portraiture as they work through childhood trauma with their therapist and has used this opportunity to look at themself and their body in a new light.
Hannah Kelly
Hannah is a recent graduate of UAL (Fine Art Sculpture BA (Hons)), now back living in the North East post studying. Her practice is focused on ceramics, textiles and digital pieces with a keen interest in narratives, landscapes and recycling waste materials such as plastics and fabrics to create innovative works of art.
“Outside Inside”
Hannah's piece is a mixed-media installation created using a voile curtain, a dress hoop from a bridal dress, ceramic pieces and a mirrored acrylic floor panel. The curtain separates the piece from the general gallery space making it more intriguing to a viewer as you have to move the curtain to fully see the work and therefore the viewer becomes a part of the work itself through this interaction. The inspiration for this piece was natural forms that Hannah saw last summer that she then collaged and abstracted together to make the main ceramic piece which then has the spiky form which was a doodle that she turned into a physical work to contrast the organic form of the other piece with the mirror and curtain acting as a prop to invite the viewer into the work and to make it more dramatic when all shown together.
