Gathering Light: X-ray style photographs and abstract paintings

ArtHouse Jersey welcomes the latest in their Collins Pop Up exhibition series, featuring work by local artists Shân Murton and Liz Adams.

‘Gathering Light’ will take place at Greve de Lecq Barracks on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 March 2025, running from 10am to 5pm on both days.

The Collins Pop Up Exhibition Series is a programme of intimate weekend exhibitions featured across the year. It invites the community to enjoy the work of local artists in ArtHouse Jersey’s unique exhibition space for a short ‘pop up’ time period and provides artists with a professional space to showcase their work.

Shân Murton completed a degree in graphic design and has worked for a number of design agencies in the UK. Since moving to Jersey she has come to appreciate the beauty of nature and the structure, complexity and uniqueness of plants, flowers and insects. After having a number of X-rays, Shân became fascinated by images of the ‘inner me’, which inspired her to produce photographs of plant life in a similar manner, showing their make-up, their inner beauty and delicacy in detail.

Shân Murton said: “Having a number of X-rays recently has inspired me to use this subject matter in my exhibition. Viewing the ‘inner me’ led me to consider the ‘inner flower,’ looking beyond the surface to the complex delicacy of their structure. Through my photographs I want people to see the perfection and beauty of nature and in doing so, value and respect it in all its glory.”

Liz Adams studied languages at university and then worked in the youth justice system before beginning painting in her late forties. She mainly paints in acrylics, incorporating elements of collage to create texture and movement. Her work is abstract, aiming to express an emotional response to the world around her.

Liz Adams said: “I am very grateful to ArtHouse Jersey for giving me the opportunity to exhibit my work with them at Greve de Lecq Barracks. In my work, I try to capture an atmosphere or a feeling, rather than representing how things actually look. I draw on memories, sometimes of being in the landscape or the weather, trying to portray something about how this felt. I am often looking for a way through, to find some light.

“I like the idea of people viewing my paintings trying to find their own way in, their own interpretation, whether or not their experience chimes with mine. I paint mainly in acrylics, sometimes incorporating collage, often building up many layers before being satisfied that a painting is complete.”

Main image: Artwork by Shân Murton