HANDS AND VISION
- Dec 31, 2025
- 4 min read
SIXTEEN GALLERY | 16 – 22 JULY
HANDS & VISION: A CELEBRATION OF CRAFT AND PERSPECTIVE.
PRESENTED BY JESS COLLEY, CLAIRE MANN, LISA POWELL, LORRAINE SHAW AND ALEXANDRA WOODS
Hands and Vision brings together five distinctive artists whose practices span woodworking, painting, textile sculpture, and 3D design. Each artist channels their unique voice through material and motion—translating touch, texture, and vision into vivid form.
From richly grained woodworks that honour natural patterns, to bold canvases alive with colour and emotion, to tactile textile sculptures and immersive 3D creations, the show offers a sensory journey through the ways human hands shape imagination into reality.
This exhibition highlights the dialogue between craft and concept—how each artist, through differing methods and materials, reveals a shared pursuit of creativity, connection, and vision. Hands and Vision invites viewers to experience art not only with their eyes, but with an appreciation for the hands and minds that bring it to life.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
JESS COLLEY
" I am a graphic designer and educator with over 20 years’ experience working across commercial and educational contexts. With a background in advertising and design for major charity organisations, my practice is rooted in communication, storytelling and purposeful visual outcomes.
My approach to creativity is intuitive and exploratory, often led by feeling and response rather than rigid systems. I am particularly interested in how visual language can communicate identity and narrative, and how designers develop a personal voice through making.
This body of work marks a shift away from a purely graphic design-led approach towards a more tactile, textile and fine art-based response. Moving beyond structured outcomes, the work embraces process, materiality and a slower, more intuitive way of making — allowing ideas to emerge through touch, repetition and imperfection.
At its core, the work reflects on the role, perception and values of the modern woman, explored through the perspective of someone who has lived, experienced and contributed, yet is beginning to notice a subtle shift in how I am seen and treated as she ages. It considers the tension between visibility and invisibility — between being defined by experience and being overlooked because of it.
Textiles and digital layered surfaces become a metaphor for this lived experience. Marks, textures and imperfections speak to memory, resilience and the accumulation of time, while the physicality of the materials challenges the often polished and controlled nature of graphic design. The work moves between strength and vulnerability, questioning how value is assigned — and reassigned — over time."
CLAIRE MANN
" My work explores both animals and people through a combination of two very opposing materials, copper and paint. I work directly onto copper plate using techniques such as scraping, abrasion, and the controlled development of verdigris to create textured, time worn grounds. These raw reactive surfaces become integral to the image, informing both colour and atmosphere. Layered oil paint sits in dialogue with the metal beneath, allowing moments of corrosion, mark making and reflection to remain visible and how these combinations may change over time to enhance the image. The result is a body of work that balances strength and vulnerability, where human and animal subjects emerge from the material itself, shaped as much by process as by painterly gesture."
LISA POWELL
"Lisa Powell is a fine art textiles and printmaking artist whose practice is deeply led by the materials I works with. Responding intuitively to their textures, limitations, and possibilities, I creates pieces that explore the shifting phases of life—both physical and spiritual. Working with raw and evocative materials such as wire, wool, rust, and feathers, I construct layered works that reflect cycles of change, growth, and transformation. My process embraces both control and unpredictability, allowing the materials to guide the outcome as much as my own hand. My work considers how personal experience is carried through time—sometimes visible, often unseen. Each piece acts as a quiet reflection on transition, inviting viewers to connect through feeling as much as form. My practice sits between structure and fragility, permanence and decay, offering a tactile exploration of the emotional and physical landscapes that shape human experience."
LORRAINE SHAW
Lorraine Shaw is a retired Olympic hammer thrower who has channelled her strength, precision, and discipline into a new craft bespoke woodwork. She is someone who lives in Gloucestershire and locally sources materials from across the shire, ensuring each piece reflects the character of the area it comes from. Her work blends function with artistry: from beautifully shaped serving boards to striking statement pieces, often enhanced with unique features such as natural knots, flowing grain patterns, and subtle resin inlays. No two creations are ever the same, reflecting Lorraine’s commitment to individuality and craftsmanship. Just as in her athletic career, Lorraine’s attention to detail and pursuit of excellence are at the heart of everything she produces turning raw wood into distinctive, handcrafted pieces designed to be both used and admired.
ALEXANDRA WOODS
"I make pictures to celebrate the beauty of nature, the individual characters of living beings, making connections and living in harmony with nature. I have always been interested in other animals and how we relate to them. I seek visual solutions whether that be effectively telling a story with pictures or negotiating a route down a mountain. I am totally absorbed when exploring the natural world, exciting the senses, feasting on colour, making discoveries and connecting my eye to body through drawing, hiking, biking, skiing and painting. Thriving in the natural environment, particularly when shared with others, I am a visual and active explorer, curious about the world around me. Undertaking commissions and exhibiting pieces both nationally and internationally since 2004, my work ranges from minimalistic illustration, logos, pattern design to murals and portrait paintings."
Opening Times: Daily 10am – 6:30pm
Private View: Join the artists on Friday 17th July
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