Amber Roome - Group Show 2007 Review

In this new group exhibition of work by Delia Baillie & Iain Sturrock, Jessica Harrison, Karen Kirkwood and Sophie McKay Knight, all of the artists deal with big and imaginative topics, such as the subconscious and the supernatural.

Delia Baille and Iain Sturrock have collaborated on a number of works for the show, and use drawing, painting and collage as there shared medium. In My Name is Better than Your Name the artists overlay imagery of cityscape and landscape with decorative imagery of rugs and figures. Both artists seem interested in using layered imagery as a means of suggesting what is hidden and concealed within family relationships, hence their interest in the myth of Romulus and Remus, siblings who both loved one another and despaired of there family bonds.

Jessica Harrison's work deserves a long look, particularly for her skill, but also for its reference to themes in Renaissance Art, which she links with an interest in fear, vanity and desire. Screaming mouths hold mother and child imagery and in the case of Cherub Medusa suggest a kind of imaginative mania reaching out of control.

Sophie McKay Knight's body of work, The Little People, concerns the supernatural and notions of belief and superstition. She paints intriguing little creatures looking out or turning into mysterious dark worlds. A fascinating exhibition of diverse, imaginative minds. [Lucy Gallwey]