From two different cities, the Beyond the Room group: Catriona Graham, Jane Helmers, Vanessa Rowe and Steve Tomlin met online during Covid restrictions.

Despite rarely meeting physically, their bond has evolved through a common focus - the exploration of landscape, both imagined and real. Each artist begins with the idea of landscape, and each jumps off into a very unique and personal way of interpreting the three-dimensional world; a world that they will re-imagine and flatten, creating a new universe (the canvas) that we are then invited to explore. Each has honed their observation of colour and visual sensations of looking.

With varying heritages and differing interests, and using a range of media and techniques, they explore their reactions to and interpretation of their themes and subject matter through the materiality of their medium - ranging from fluid, instinctive watercolour, to hard-edged acrylic, to expressive or more detailed oil work.

Their individual windows on our world may be shaped differently and have varying outlooks, but as they have come to learn about each other, each artist’s view is as real as the next; it is simply a matter of perspective.

Artwork photography: Dane Moffat