Crocus Gallery - Discovering the Lost Self

Nesting - Jessica Page Grieg

Marie Drouin – a talented maker of wonderful bracelets - was not surprised at the focus of my attention on entering Crocus Gallery. ‘Nesting’ – the brooding black signature piece by Jessica Page Greig says - ‘This sculpture is based on our undeniable bond with nature, and the urge to procreate, which is written in our DNA.'

Art juxtaposes life in a very effective way in Crocus Gallery. The location of the gallery is post apocalyptically bleak.  It is a rundown 1960’s urban development that has latently become famous thanks to Shane Meadows filming on the walkways and high rises. The reason it worked for him, is the same reason it works so well here – contrast.

This exhibition was all about life, the creation of life, the cycle of life, the visceral experience of life. Appropriately, all the artists are women – Jessica Paige Greig, Jenna Michelle Pink, Emma Jones, and Bodhi.

Talking about her intensely personal pieces, Jenna spoke of – ‘using the creative process to release the feelings inside. Art is a healing process, and it is the process that dictates the finished piece.’

Variously titled ‘Vulnerable’, ‘Being Female’, ‘A death inside of me’, or ‘My Secrets’, Jenna’s pieces make natural partners to the moving fridge note that is Emma Jones stark work and the exceptionally striking images drawn by Jessica Paige Greig.  A heartbreakingly accurate image of a newborn baby sits next to hypnotically ticking clocks.

Never have so many uterus(es?) - or is it (i?) - been featured in so many anthropomorphic ways. Here as a convincing stag, there an eagle - the ‘Nesting’ centre piece plays with ideas and images of reproduction.  The weight of motherhood is depicted literally.  The feathered uterus figure in ‘Nesting’ is holding two enormous ostrich eggs.

Bodhi’s work is abstract by contrast, yet working the same themes. Melted glue and plastic figures sit next to textured canvases, opposite an entwined sculpture entitled ‘Distorted Neurons’. Here, the artist responds to research suggesting schizophrenic neurons could be identified, and played with the theme. The result is intriguing. Out of all the artists in the exhibition, her work is possibly the most marketable.  A big fat SOLD says so.

Next up at Crocus Gallery is “Life...made for Art” opening 10^th February and running ‘til 3^rd March.  Again featuring entirely local artists, a sneak preview of a mixed media canvas suggests a fantastic contrast to those concrete surroundings.

Crocus Gallery – and the adjoining Crocus Cafe – are a genuine find in this area. Lucky then that the Gallery has secured the funding it requires to continue the valuable contribution it makes – not only to art, but to the wider community in general. Totalling £6000, the money was awarded by the Nat West Community Foundation and will allow the gallery to carry on organising events such as ‘Togetherness’, a recent cross community event. New artists and volunteers are welcome to get involved in this uniquely participatory project. That is, if they can tear themselves away from the cakes at the cafe next door...

Discovering the Lost Self ran at Crocus Gallery from Jan 13th-Feb 4th

Crocus Gallery

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