Current Exhibition
‘Sea Passages’ by Deborah Burnstone, 22 May-19 July
Opening tonight, please join us here at 6 Sun Road, DL13 from 6-9pm for launch party, all welcome.
Deborah is a London-based multi-media artist. She graduated in fine art from Goldsmiths College in 1999.
Ships and boats are a recurring motif in Deborah Burnstone’s films, installations and paintings. As well as being an ancient and vital human means of transport, boats are a poetic symbol of spirituality, mortality, change, longing and adventure. The works in this show were painted between 2020 and 2026 and can be roughly grouped into three categories: exploration of the ship as a symbol; awe for the majesty of huge trade ships; and empathy for human beings they transport.
The paintings of commercial vessels come from Deborah’s walks along the banks of the Thames estuary where giant container ships and bulk carriers glide silently past dwarfing everything around them. The paintings featuring people in boats were made in response to reports of migrants fleeing war, persecution and poverty making perilous sea crossings in small boats in the hopes of a better life. The sea has always provided a means for human immigration to British shores, from the Anglo-Saxons, Romans and the Normans to more recent arrivals. ‘I feel an affinity with people risking everything to cross the sea; my own ancestors arrived on ships from Poland and Russia more than a century ago to escape poverty and persecution to make a new life on these shores,’ Deborah says.
Deborah is fascinated by colour and its power to create atmosphere and mood, as well as conjure up light and dark and describe space. Her paintings may be figurative, but she never forgets that they are an accumulation of marks, smears, shapes, textures, drips and brush strokes.
Deborah’s film ‘Estuary Stories’ (2016,15mins) will be showing, in the studio on Friday 22nd May and Saturday 23rd May.
NB apologies, technical glitch in uploading exhibition images to this page. We are are working on this. To view all works in ‘Sea Passages’ please see ‘Shop’ where the exhibited works by Deborah Burnstone are listed and described. Please do contact me with any questions.
The Gallery Open Days
Launch Party of ‘Sea Passages’ TONIGHT Friday May 22nd 6-8.30pm. Please join Deborah Burnstone and me at 6 Sun Road,Woodland,DL13 5NF.Gallery open Saturday 23rd May 11-4pm. ‘Sea Passages’ runs until July 19th.
Deborah Burnstone Biography
Deborah is a London-based multi-media artist graduating in fine art from Goldsmiths College in 1999.Deborah’s work has been exhibited nationally, particularly in London. Shows include: ‘The Joy of Painting’, Wellington Road, Liverpool, ’Finding Place’ Lauderdale House, London, a solo show ’These Little Joys’ at Lido Stores Margate, ‘In the Garden of Magical Possibilities’ Lido Stores, Margate and The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Deborah is an alumni of The Turps Off-Site programme and has been shortlisted for the John Moores painting prize.