12 Dec Chelmsford Museum’s Gallery Wall to host exhibition by local artist Alice Preston
Chelmsford Museum’s Gallery Wall will be hosting an exhibition by a talented young Chelmsford artist, Alice Preston. Alice’s show ‘Semblance’ will run from Saturday 22 December to Sunday 17 February 2019, and it explores Alice’s experiences of living with dyslexia.
Born and raised just outside the city in Writtle, Alice went to Moulsham High School until she was 18 and then went to the Colchester Institute where she studied art and design. Alice graduated with a first-class honours degree in fine art from Oxford Brookes University in 2017 and is now at the Cambridge School of Arts studying a Masters in Illustration and Book Arts.
Alice says: “Since starting my Undergraduate Degree in Fine Art, it has become apparent to me, through the freedom of experimentation, that art is an experience that I have to explore as a cathartic process. Through contemporary practice it has become evident to me that my work is in many ways a self-portrait. Art is how I display emotions and my life is a creative process”. Alice continued: ”Through painting, drawing, etching and book arts I am able to better learn about my relationship to the world around me. I see myself as a multidisciplinary artist, basing my work on forms, in particular architectural structures and studies, the form of the human and animal body, myself – my life, family and identity, landscapes, texts and works around book arts”.
Alice is dyslexic and her work examines her journey through life, from an underachieving schoolgirl to an artist who found her passion through art and exceeded expectations. Alice explains: “The work created portrays my understanding of the struggles and challenges of living and working with dyslexia. Using my identity and materials collected to create, what I hope is powerful work that can reach out to many individuals. Many people see dyslexia as a ‘disability’ that defines their academic chances, when in fact, I have learnt to appreciate and use my knowledge of the difficulties faced as an advantage”.
The gallery is open Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm, Fridays 10am to 5pm (closed Fridays in term-time), Saturdays 10am to 5pm, and Sundays 1pm to 4pm.
To discover more about Chelmsford Museum, visit: www.chelmsford.gov.uk/museums
