Art - Art Room Show

To coincide with the annual Artwave festival Dawn Stacey is reviving her annual ‘Art Room’ show (named after the former gallery at the Needlemakers). It is a showcase for a selection of ‘some of the best contemporary art in the area at the moment’, handpicked by Dawn - an artist herself - from amongst her numerous artist acquaintances. She tells me about the philosophy of the show. “I had the Art Room for about six months but I soon realised that shorter shows were much better for getting people interested. There are so many fantastic artists around here and so few galleries I wanted to give as many people as possible the chance to exhibit.” Dawn considers the fact that she is an artist an advantage with the show. “It helps that I can talk people through artist’s techniques when they ask”, she says. “I also always have a short statement printed next to the work from the artist about their intentions with the work.” Dawn’s own work is inspired by the ‘history and strangeness’ of unusual landscapes like Dungeness or quirky takes on Newhaven and Shoreham. “I’m not interested in prettiness, I’m much more attracted to the weird”, she tells me. Fellow exhibitor Fiona Robinson is also inspired by a sense of place - largely from walking around Lewes. “I love Willey’s bridge and the Pells”, she tells me. “And I’ve recently started to become interested in the Phoenix Development.” She describes her colourful etchings and monoprints as ‘naïve’ rather than abstract. “I design a piece based on my memory of walking through the areas. It’s more of an impression than a realistic image.” ER