A Sense Of Place: Rachael Mia Allen at Lighthouse Gallery
An eagerly-anticipated solo show at Lighthouse Gallery in Penzance will shed light on an artist with a unique approach and a new-found confidence.
Rachael Mia Allen has been absent from the gallery scene for some years as she took time out to focus on other things; now she’s investing all her energy in painting once again, and the results are dramatic.
Rachael explains: “I’m consciously honing my skills again, as I was when I first started experimenting at Falmouth School of Art back in the 1990s. I’m not playing it safe anymore. My work has a new intensity – it’s quite exciting!”
Rachael’s early experimentation in the print room at Falmouth led to the discovery of what was to become her signature method and material; she paints with printing ink, a medium with great depth and colour saturation.
Her subject is the Cornish landscape which, having grown up here, she knows intimately and loves like a family member.
Rachael, who lives in West Penwith, explains: “I walk out of our door straight onto the moor. There is huge drama in this ancient landscape with its quoits, standing stones and mine ruins, juxtaposed with vast skies and a feeling of emptiness.”
Despite this inherent sense of place, the surfaces of Rachael’s images have an abstract quality and it’s no surprise that one of her favourite artists is Jackson Pollock.
The exhibition will run 8th – 22nd July in the Penzance gallery which has a reputation for showing work by some of Cornwall’s most accomplished artists, all of whom are inspired by their surroundings and artistic heritage in this part of the world.
Gallery Co-Owner, Tracey Spry, commented: “Rachael’s latest series has a looser style, with more layering and a more intense quality of light. It’s not a departure from her style, but a definite evolution. I think her collectors will be really excited by these new works.”
To find out more, visit www.lighthouse-gallery.com