Jodie Wells, Abundant White Peonies, 2022. Oil on canvas 75 x 75cm. Courtesy: the artist and Anthea Polson Art.

Springtime is the season when the natural world revives and reinvigorates. It is a time of joy and new beginnings. Aptly opening in spring, Jodie Wells’ exhibition celebrates the regenerative power of nature and its contribution to a much-needed positivity in our own lives. Jodie’s works express a return to tactility; her luscious markings radiate a direct, sensory appeal. We encounter nature in all its textural vividness through the gestural freedom of her palette knife’s passage.

An intense involvement with the materiality of her oil medium lifts Jodie’s imagery beyond mere representation. It is largely an intuitive and consequently risky process as her palette knife interprets and amplifies form in thick slabs of paint. Light bouncing from the troughs and crests of the 3D markings creates a palpable presence which bids us entry into her delight of the natural world’s offerings.

Opening event: Saturday 24 September, 4 – 6pm.