Julia Tryon: From Carpet to Heaven

28th June - 1st August

Private View: 27th June, 18.00-20.00

Gallery Open Tues - Sat, 11.00 -16.00

‘From Carpet to Heaven,’ is the culminating exhibition for Word on the Street, the Holy Biscuit’s Lindisfarne Gospels Engagement Programme in which the gallery has worked with Newcastle artists to explore urban multicultural responses to the Gospels. This community exhibition showcases work made by artist in residence Julia Tryon as she explored the contemporary relevance of the Lindisfarne Gospels, to the community of Shieldfield.

Through meeting local residents, visiting community groups, initiating workshops, curating an exhibition of work by the Biscuit Family Studio Artists, and exploring the visual architecture and language of the area, Tryon has sought to open new lines of communication with the local residents. The art work created at by local residents has been combined together to make a Shieldfield Art Carpet as a major piece in the show.

While the Gospels reflect a multiplicity of cultural influences, they also represent a specific culture, during a specific time, at a particular place. Mirroring the work of Eadfrith who combined  the artistic styles of different cultural and ethnic groups of the period to communicate a message of unity across the region, Tryon aims to combine the different cultural and religious influences of the area of Shieldfield and Ouseburn, producing an exhibition which reveals some inspiring connections between the Gospels and the locality. She has particularly explored the changing use of religious spaces over the past few years and how it has shaped the ever evolving identity of the area.

Julia Tryon was born in London in 1984 and graduated from Newcastle University in Fine Art in 2008. Working in painting, sculpture and photography, her work explores the feelings evoked by architectural spaces; depicting figures in fantastical settings with atmospheric light and colour. The process of making her work involves sculpture, photography and painting, reflecting her interest in transformations between two and three dimensions. She currently has a studio at the Biscuit Tin Studios, Newcastle.