Alchemy: Artefacts Reimagined is a travelling solo-exhibition of new work by Ann-Marie James. As part of her residency with the Wessex Partner Museums, James was invited to explore the collections of Wiltshire, Salisbury, Poole and Dorset Museums to create series of works in response to the objects she encountered. These four new, related series will tour the four Wessex Partner Museums beginning with Wiltshire Museum, opening Friday 24th May, and travelling to the other partner museums through autumn 2020.
Metamorphosis is a central theme in Ann-Marie James's work; in her complex and varied material processes, she abstracts found object sources to produce new hybrids. At the same time, James is interested in an ongoing dialogue with art history, and her work explores her own responses to her source materials and their artists, contexts and histories.
Ann-Marie James's Chieftain series was made in reference to Wiltshire Museum's gold lozenge from a Bronze Age burial site. With layers of drawing, print and paint based on the geometric lozenge, James creates intricate compositions blending painterly gestures and precise lines.
Alchemy: Artefacts Reimagined
Wiltshire Museum
41 Long Street
Devizes SN10 1NS (map)
24 May - 26 August 2019