Often neglected and sometimes forgotten, the Rye Creative Centre (RCC) is not in central Rye but, with plenty of working space for a number of professional artists, it is in New Road, just across the river Rother in the direction of Camber and East Guilford.
A new exhibition by Jillian Eldridge, to January 29, is a reflective body of work that is, Jillian says, “about migratory figures moving through landscapes, distilled down to a blurred image, separated from the viewer by an over painted grid. Images of beauty which suggest an atmosphere of contemplation”. I also read that the paintings of the last few years were influenced by liners sent by her ancestors to the family back in England after their perilous journey to Australia.
I really like the fact that they are about journeys, “into the unknown, through dark wood or the flashing of the landscape from a train”. The paintings, oil on canvas, use colour superbly with vivid flashes and contained within the precise grid as if to harness the beauty of the view.
This gallery space is to be used by the practising artists and visitors much more in the future. I strongly recommend a look, starting with Jillian Eldridge, “‘Bright to Light to Black” at the Rye Creative Centre, New Road, Rye Monday to Friday 10am – 3pm until 29 January.
Anna McCrickard