A triptych of images with a blotted, stained fabric on the left, a stained photographic image of a figure in the middle and twisted wire and clay on the right

Fine Art students open new exhibition in Martin Hall Gallery

Fine Art students Fay Sheppard, Gabriella Drewer, and Jay Finnis consider the cyclicality of life in their exhibition ‘All Flesh Is Grass’ by using a range of impermanent mixed media and curatorial methods.

Their work guides visitors through discussions of grief, hope, death, and desire. The exhibition aims to provoke self-reflection and thought surrounding the place of humanity in the landscape. ‘All Flesh Is Grass’ is an intersection of each artist's individual practice so far and celebrates the overlap between distinct styles and motifs within the selected works.

The exhibition is open from 9-23 August, 12pm-2pm (weekdays only) in Martin Hall Gallery.

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ the artists:

Fay Sheppard

Fay's work focuses on landscapes, and this year she has been using foraged plants to create her own natural dyes. She has taught herself to create mushroom dyes while foraging, experimenting with rust as a dye and recycling dried specimens.

Due to the laborious nature of foraging and collecting, much of Fay's process becomes the artwork itself. In her exhibitions, she loves displaying specimen jars, solutions, and her dye pot alongside her artwork.

Fay aims for her work to remind people of the complexity of the natural world. She believes that if plants can create such work, we must appreciate nature for all it is capable of doing.

Follow Fay on Instagram at @fay.folio.

Gabriella Drewer

Gabriella explores the cyclicality of life in her work, through traces, delving into memory, memorialisation, and identity. Her practice is ritualistic in nature, involving the collection and hoarding of old photos and memories, which she then destroys and manipulates to create new traces.

By using found family film photography and postcards, Gabriella confronts the ephemeral nature of life and the transience of memories. The constant creation and destruction of her work serve as a meditation on the cyclicality of life, with each birth and death of her art embodying this theme.

Follow Gabriella on Instagram at @gabriella_d_art.

Jay Finnis

Jay's practice revolves around their own experiences and is shaped by their queerness and experience living with fibromyalgia. Through their work, Jay journeys through a landscape governed by otherness, isolation, fear, grief, and desire.

Their practice is curatorial-based, seeking to emphasise the connections between objects and the space occupied. Jay is drawn to the impermanence of the materials they use, frequently focusing on organic matter, wire, handmade paper, unfired clay, and found objects and their tangible work is often supported by sections of poetry they have written.

Follow Jay on Instagram at @jayfinnisfineart.

You can find information about accessibility, parking and public transport on the LU Arts website.

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