Meet 3 new graduates: William Hughes, Chris Grisley and Julia Pomeroy

Meet 3 new artists:

Camberwell College of Art graduate: William Hughes:
What is the true substance of a memory? William Hughes bases his practice around answering this impossible question. Hughes shows that remembering – like creating art – might just be the same thing, a constant practice of creation and reworking. His pieces have textural exteriors that betray a process at work in their depths; old photographs resurface, materials are lost, decayed and found, or an old biscuit tin rusts into abstraction. Select pieces were worked on in collaboration with his grandfather, using ephemera and tools that have deeply personal meanings. Yet between the watery acrylics, reclaimed furniture, and weathered fabrics, viewers are taken through the mists of their own introspective journeys.
University of Leeds graduate: Chris Grisley:
Chris Grisley’s work is charged with history – the history of painting, eternal portraiture, and methodical mark making. Initially, his pieces exude a ‘stately’ air. But this is quickly (and slyly) undercut by so-called errors; smudges, smears, and imperfections add up to create deeply unnerving work. Always dramatic, Grisley’s use of scale and evocative brushwork transports us into another world, where we’re left to grasp for as much detail as possible. Ghostly figures are richly dressed, but faceless. White-lined figures melt into forestry. Viewers are left to contemplate anxiety itself, a yearning uncannily reflective of contemporary uncertainties. Grisley’s careful method, colouring, and tonal variety ends up bringing us back to ourselves.
University of Leeds graduate: Julia Pomeroy:
Julia Pomeroy looks at interior spaces with an eye attuned to negative space. Held fixed between seemingly ordinary domestic forms are mixed emotions, private melancholies, and the traces of relationships we’ll never fully understand. Yet the mode of perception Pomeroy allows us to access is tantalising; carefully wrought compositions lay the base for viewers to project their own stories. Rich colours feed our curiosities, Pomeroy applying them in gradations and bursts as inspired by neo-impressionist works. Through her practice she aims to convey specific atmospheres, layering oils, and often scaling up work to aid more discoveries. Scenes are lit with a particular glow, making it hard to look away.

Residual 1 (Depicting Memory) by William Hughes