Deep Looking Exhibition

Consuelo Simpson
Dawn Langley
Janet McWilliam
Deep
Looking

Deep
Looking
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The title of the exhibition draws on an intended
interaction between artist and materials, and between
viewer and artwork. The show aims to highlight our
shared lived experience encouraging the viewer to pause
and consider what might be a curious juxtaposition or an
unusual viewpoint.
We know from research that the brain goes through
changes when viewing art, human beings are adept at
discerning pattern and shape and deriving some kind
of sense from them. We are interested in the notion of
embodied creativity where the artworks draw you in and
elicit a physical response.
We see this as appropriate for the Lightbox because it
is embedded in collaborative interaction. We want our
audience to spend time, to dwell and enjoy a process
of slow and deep looking. The works draw on shared
contemporary themes but also evoke a sense of play and
exploration, something we hope our viewers will share.
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Consuelo Simpson
I enjoy the ongoing dialogue with the materials
as the work develops, always aware of the weight
and texture of the matter in my hands. I work
intuitively, responding to what is happening in
front of me. I focus on the process of making as
a way of understanding, as thinking takes place
alongside making, hands and body responding
to materials.
‘Things become, as does our knowledge of
them.’ (Ingold:2017:13)
I am as interested in the creativity of the making
process as in the outcome. The opportunity
for transformation is always present. When a
piece of work is on show in an exhibition or
resting in the studio, this is merely a pause in the
making. I often revisit, revise, dismantle work and
incorporate some of the elements and materials
into new works. Alongside made objects, I
incorporate carefully chosen found objects in my
practice. These may be old tools or repurposed
materials which I love for the history they hold.
They are witnesses to the past, showing signs of
wear and care, carrying the imprint of previous
owners, a direct link to people whose stories may
never otherwise be told.
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I construct assemblages to celebrate lost stories and
to give objects an imagined future. Working in series
and with repetition allows for small variations and
adjustments, each new iteration developing from
previous ones. The gradual, incremental transformation
becomes part of the narrative, part of the story of the
network that binds us together through time and space.
The connection with both past and future, through
objects, materials and skills, feels potent and vibrant. It
is here that I look for moments of contentment, noticing
flashes of enchantment and reaching an accommodation
with the world around us.
‘Enchantment includes ... a condition of
exhilaration... To be simultaneously transfixed in
wonder and transported by sense, to be both caught
up and carried away’. (Bennett, 2001:13)
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Dawn Langley
This series of ‘Curious Combinations’ draws on
the painterly tradition of still life. I have been
working on it since 2018 and it has developed out
my concern for our shifting relationships with our
food. In some cultures food seems to have become
just another commodity. We have stopped seeing
its beauty, no longer marvelling at the splendour
of a single egg or a slice of melon. Each of these
photographs represents a personal moment of
quiet attention and wonder.
In combining the photographs with the concertina
books, the historical meets present and possibly
future. The book images are all synthetic, created
using ‘text to image’ and ‘image to image’ prompts
in Midjourney, Runway and Playform. Using my
own images as the prompts I was curious to see
what the machine learning would produce. There
are many issues to consider as a result of the
exponential growth of synthetic images, from the
opportunities it opens up to appropriation but it is
possibly too early to know all the implications.
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Janet McWilliam
My recent collection being shown here at the
Lightbox is called the ‘Mop and Roll’ series. The
work intentionally dives into the tangled depths
of history within the domestic setting of home
and of roles and activities undertaken.
I have considered ‘mop’ both as an essential
household tool but also as a focus of still life, the
decorative and the abundance of the mop as a
flower head.
The physicality involved in keeping a home is
further represented by the ‘roll’ aspects within
a number of pieces and portray those activities
which are repeated over and over.
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Unconventional tools have been used to make the
collection. Strips of canvas are dabbed, pressed and
drawn through thick acrylic paint or stretched over rollers
as layers are built up.
The making can be a messy business but I like to
embrace the accidental and the random. For me there
is a need to involve the materials within the making of
the work since of course we are not in isolation and this
perhaps represents the fluidity and layering of life itself.
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Biographies & References
Consuelo Simpson
I am a multi-disciplinary artist working in 2D and
3D, often bringing craft techniques into play. I am
drawn to materials with a long history: paper, string,
textiles and printmaking.
Dawn Langley
I am a mixed media artist, which allows me to
explore my interest in the impact our digital lives
are having on our social and cultural practices.
My influences include 17th century still life
painting, 20th century Abstract Expressionism and
contemporary post-digital art.
Janet McWilliam
I am a contemporary abstract painter. My work
investigates materiality and focuses on content
and storytelling. Chance and control are important
to my practice and I am constantly drawn to
experiment with colour theory as materials and
support come together.
Bennett, J (2001) The Enchantment of Modern Life
Princeton and Woodstock : Princeton University
Press
Ingold, T (2017) Correspondences Available
online at https://knowingfromtheinside.org/files/
correspondences.pdf
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Consuelo Simpson
Cover
pg.3
pg.4
Telling Tales, 2022, found object, yarns, gilding
Gifts, 2023, size variable, paper, yarn, found
objects, gilding
Cubes (I) 2022, overall size variable, individual
cubes 4.5 x 4.5cm, etchings on Somerset
paper, wire, found objects
p.11 Strands of Life, 2024, graphite, carbon tooling
and gold leaf.
Dawn Langley
pg. 5
pg. 6
Left to right: Egg (& front cover), Pumpkin
(& p.11), Melon, 2018 - 2024, Inkjet on Fine Art
paper, 51x76cm
Rhubarb, 2018, Inkjet on Fine Art paper, 51 x
76cm. Inserts: Egg, Pumpkin, Melon, Rhubarb,
2024, Inkjet on Fine Art paper, 10 x 15cm
Images
Janet McWilliam
pg. 7
pg.8
pg.11
Mops in a Pot I, 2024, Acrylic, 40x40cm
Top left (& cover): Three Mops, 2023, Acrylic,
70x70cm
Top right: Mops in a Pot III, 2024, Acrylic, 40 x
40cm
Bottom left: Marking the Lines, 2024, acrylic, 70
x 70cm
Bottom right: Housecoats I, 2024, acrylic, 70 x
70cm
Mops in a pot II, 2024, Acrylic, 40 x 40cm
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Contact us
www.consuelosimpson.com
Instagram @ConsueloSimpson
hello@consuelosimpson.com
www.infinitecuriosity.studio
Instagram @dawnl_sketchbook
dawn@alchemy-photography.com
www.janetmcwilliam.co.uk
Instagram @mcwilliam.janet
janetmcwilliamart@gmail.com
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