Deanna is a freelance writer notable for Arts Reviews and is available for commissions covering Art exhibitions and events upon request.
A Look at the Art of Nicolas Party
Nicolas Party’s new solo exhibition, ‘Clotho’, launches at Hauser and Wirth’s Savile Row Gallery in London from October 14th until December 20th 2025. Here Party will show new pastel portraits and the colourful landscapes which have become recognisable as familiar in his works.
Nicolas is originally of Swiss origin but now lives in New York and Brussels. He is successfully promoted as an artist who works across mediums having gained a MFA at Glasgow School of Art, Scotland, in 2009, and is widely exhibited today, showing paintings, sculptures, murals, installations and pastel drawings. Recognisable by the slick vivid colour combinations in his work, Party’s practice seems to be the product of a varied mix of influences and techniques with suggested references to notable historic art practitioners, with a modern twist.
Museum visits and research by Party led to discovery anew of experimental processes formed in the past, including oil paint on copper plate techniques used by seventeenth century artists in the Northern Renaissance. Rembrandt created experimental pieces using this method between 1629 and 1630, where a smooth surface was perfect for painting finite details over an under-layer of fine gold leaf, as can be seen in his works, ‘Old Woman Praying’ which is a portrait of his mother, and a self-portrait of 1630, now hanging in the National Museum, Stockholm, following the painting’s successful rescue from a robbery. Many innovative experiments in surface were carried out by this superb artist who died in poverty in 1669, aged 63. Party has also experimented with durable base surfaces for his pastel works on walls and often quotes references to other artists from history in conversation, relating how these influences and experiences have contributed to his own practice. The need to consistently provide verification of sources may possibly be prompted by promotions or media pressure in interviews, requiring Nicolas to explain his influences and works to the public wherever he exhibits.
There are clearly theatrical aspects to Party’s practice where his work could draw parallels with the rapidly produced temporary backdrop pieces used in stage productions, site-specific, both Party’s pieces and production backdrops are created with immediacy in situ, specifically designed for their impactful visuals. Larger and brighter can be powerful in art, although it may expose a lack of the in-depth and the personal. Party’s paintings, where no figurative aspects or landscapes are painted from life, show a compatibility to graphic fantasy creation, which could be cited as an influence, albeit effectively presented within these alternative formats where, today, the ability to be ‘out there’, relevant and impactful within the Art World has never been more important for sponsorship and success where financial gain and reward can be of a premium. Perhaps this is something Party has retained from his historical investigations from the art of both Rubens and Carriera, for example, seeing how profitable it is to be sought after as an artist, as both were financially solvent and successful in their respective lifetimes. Party’s smaller works are now selling near a starting price of £40,000.
As a boy, Party produced street art and Graffiti making rapid bold statements in public places where speed was an important element of completion and today he continues to enjoy working at pace on large walls, usually with pastels, for rapid results. There followed an uncertain career route progression for Nicolas following study at Art School where a continuous Fine Art route was unclear to him at that time, feeling at odds with the idea of conceptual art he consequently trained in Graphic Design and as a 3.D Animator, the bold influences of which are evident within his work today, where colourful graphic imagery and impactful design are clearly important.
Considerations of Influences which may be present in Party’s practice prompts a comparison to smooth surface spray-painting and air-brushing techniques used freely in graffiti art, but not used in Party’s work today, or a nod to the simplicity in Japanese Fine Art practices and posters, and the renowned clay ‘NO’ masks of theatre performance, specifically created with minimal detail, smooth and blank, where characterisation may be beautified or disturbing in equal measure, and could resonate with the large colourful head sculptures and stylized faces in Party’s works. The graphic works of Kohei Sugiura may also be noted, where fine Japanese mask-work combined with blended and simplified imagery pose similarities. Spaces are important to Party, where he enjoys planning potential exhibitions and making best use of space for his shows and murals in a theatrical way, aiming to maximise the viewer experience. Party’s practice displays conflicting historical influences converging in his work, plus a background in 3.D animation, graphic design, graffiti art and fine art, and a possible awakening that art can be so much more than an energetic response. For me, un-ease exists where an artist redraws the works of other artists, albeit in admiration or for fun, but then uses that redraw to support own additional statement pieces. Fine artists have long since ceased the practice of copying other artists’ work as a means of learning, or anything else, where originality of personal concept is respected, even where its use may be seen as an effective public statement. However, that poses the moral question of whether any historical artworks in the public domain can be seen as fair game for other purposes.
Similarly, it could be argued that there are contradictions in style relating to alleged artistic influences. Many are creators that we all admire, but some seem at odds with Nicolas’s works. The artist argues that there are no prominent pastel artists today working solely in pastel. Notable pastel societies obviously exist, but the point here is unclear. Party, although working in pastel himself, is a multimedia artist, as are numerous achievers in the skill of pastel who also enjoy creating in other media. Craftsmanship in any one media does not indicate that the artist would be any less proficient in a different medium, as we see with artists of the calibre of Degas, Cassatt and Valloton, amongst others. An attempt to pigeon-hole the life, times and skills of past great artists seems somewhat unnecessary and unwelcome, as clearly they all excelled in pastels and also in paint. Perhaps Odilon Redon came close to being a sole pastel master with his superb sensitive obsession with that medium, or Rosalba Carriera with her innovative pastel techniques in an age of powdered faces and powdered wigs, where one could say that pastel seemed like the obvious choice in chalky atmospheres where innovative techniques were required to convey the sitters of that age.
Artists inevitably equate their own works to their contemporaries and to artists throughout history, possibly as a means of assessing their own quality of progression and personal achievement status. However, persistent century-hopping across the smorgasbord of choice options throughout the long history of art with its open availability, dipping in and out to suit, could indicate personal indecision or substituting the projections of time for originality of thought and development within present contexts. It could be argued that speed, energy, time restraints and the need for immediate results satisfaction in public display are possibly the enemy to fostering development within the Arts. Party sites among his numerous influences names such as Felix Vallotton, Pablo Picasso, Giotto di Bondone, Rene Magritte and Georgio Morandi amongst numerous others. For me, the sensitivity and intimacy of the heartfelt paintings, woodcuts and writings of Vallotton’s works is hard to see in Party’s practice, albeit strong colour choices are partially evident, and both Vallotton and Party began life in Lausanne Switzerland, but there the similarity ends fro me, as painting style, technique and ethos are very different. Similarly, I would argue that the gentle empathetic pieces of Morandi’s art are incompatible with the bold imagery in Party’s works. Giotto and Magritte are sited as influences in Portraiture, but perhaps forms and style comparisons are closer to contemporary painters like Salvatore Mangione, known as Salvo, for example, who also similarly lauded the works of old masters, with Raphael being named as an influence for him. And just maybe, after a long day of creating Artworks, perhaps there is no need for any comparison at all, and it’s okay to say, this work is my own.
Party’s use of strong colour contrasts within his works show a dynamism which is his own, and his innate drawing skills are utilised more fully in sensitive original pieces, the painting of his baby for example, where he has included fine detail absent in his other expansive works, and the fine textures of clothe and fur being introduced into new pieces. It seems to me that Party is newly on the road to his own self-discovery as an artist, be that in pastel or another medium, where clearly the impactful creation of his ‘shows’ gives enormous pleasure, and possibly, the best is yet to come.
Previous artwork by Party was on display in August 2025 at the Holburne in Bath UK. This was more of an appetiser for the full banquet of his larger upcoming shows in London and globally. In the Holburne Party had re-drawn ‘A Brawl Between Peasants’ by Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp (1612-1652) on a large wall in the Picture Gallery featuring a central addition ‘Portrait with Two Horses’, and this exhibition, named Copper and Dust, served as an introduction to this new exhibition at Hauser and Wirth in London where his latest original pieces will be shown.
Deanna de Roche. 2025.
A Review of Barbara Walker: Being Here
The Arnolfini is a progressive interdisciplinary contemporary Art Gallery and space on Bristol harbour-side, established in 1961 by founder Jeremy Rees, who named the gallery after his favourite painting by Jan Van Eyck, the Arnolfini Wedding portrait of 1434. Now a venue of worldwide significance, exhibits may be viewed over three floors. The ground floor also hosts a friendly cafe bar with an interesting menu serving brunch & lunch, and an excellent bookshop, in addition to gallery space.
The current exhibition showing Tate Prize nominee Barbara Walker MBE RA, relates to her historical and recent research, the development of associated perceptions and experiences emanating from that research, and her own personal experiences and outrage at points in time, all of which relate to the lives of black individuals and resettled groups, standing alone and within communities. The black subjects are sensitively drawn in graphite and charcoal in traditional style, on large papers, emerging with print processes, and paint on canvas. This is fascinating work following a common thread, where original ideas emanate from an emotional starting point and a willingness to be the visual voice of perceived and very real fear, exclusion and injustice in a black community. These are heartfelt pieces where unspoken realities resulting from a question of colour in society, are ably conveyed though Art.
As a starting point for the embossed series of prints, Vanishing Point, Walker specifically sought and chose paintings by prominent sixteenth and eighteenth century artists to use for this project, where black people were included in these original paintings, but were portrayed as being of lesser importance than their fair-skinned counterparts, and were often observed in the background or in useful service situations in these particular works. Walker has used the templates of these paintings for her inspired photopolymer gravure embossed prints series, where an effective bas-relief printmaking technique leaves only the colourless outline of eliminated white sitters, ghosts if you will, where they were once prominent subjects in these old master paintings, leaving only Walker’s preferred black subjects to feature in the remade pieces. This is done clearly to emphasise a point being made with regard to race and power historically. The result is a predominantly white embossed artwork often with only one or two smaller black figures remaining and re- illustrated by Walker, and, it could be argued that the little that is left, leaves the artwork somewhat out of context, which may be the point. This is a clever much admired conceptual idea, and yet somehow leaves an imbalance of composition to the eye despite its redrawing and the excellence of technical outcomes, again probably intentional.
Walker’s established drawing skills are without question superb. In the Burdon of Proof series, the sitters are carefully drawn over enlarged magnified documents, emphasising the perceived importance of these official scripts, where the person becomes an integral but lesser part of these compositions, intimating that the document is seen as of greater important than the person owning it. This original idea portrays a disconcerting injustice in part relating to the recent Windrush scandal and demonstrating another effective conceptual idea from the artist.
All Barbara Walker’s drawings and paintings are of black people past and present, faithfully represented visually as they once lived at a moment in time, and drawings also show us how selected black people appear today, with any white counterparts deliberately eliminated from the scenes or re-translated drawings. Sometimes subjects may have a personal link to the artist, but often a random element is introduced where black strangers from old photographs or articles are chosen at will and placed within a composition for convenience, where actual historical identity is unknown, and, as the exhibition continues in this vein onto the next floor, the concept could begin to feel like obsession, where there seems to be an unnecessary elimination of all white people in all of her works, whitewashed out, where perhaps there wasn’t an imposed prejudice entirely, who knows, or a feeling of lesser rank situation, experienced by all of the black people illustrated in her works, but the concept remains king throughout. There may be some presumption here imposed upon those who can no longer speak for themselves.
It has to be said that Black and white people have not always been so obviously segregated, but today to speak of colour has become a sensitive topic given modern implications of injustice and power policies, but black and white have been living happily side by side in communities in Britain for many years, with equal advantages. The stop and search policy, influential in this exhibition with reference to Walker’s son, has much to answer for in society today. Michael Jackson once said, it doesn’t matter if you’re black or white, which, is surely a good message moving forward. The burden of concept using mechanical exclusion for anyone with a white skin does seem to me to be stretching the point a bit, albeit cleverly, and it could be argued that it has become a slave in itself to a concept, which may only continue bitter separation within communities.
With the Burdon of Proof series, I can see clearly how so much recent injustice has led to these works as a representative statement, especially with the recent mismanagement and misrepresentation of young black men today on our streets, to site the Lawrence crime incident which has prompted concerning situations where mothers’ worry and grieve, and differences become highlighted in a world where justice for all often seems like justice for none. Young white men suffer too, and also seem to be more unrepresented today. The analogy of discrimination becomes in itself discrimination if only seen through a singular life-lens, where healing needs to be viewed through the wider lens of integration and communication. The persistence and insistence of delving into the past, and potentially rewriting narratives, may become the real problem if we are stuck there and cannot move forward together as one.
Walker had said, ‘I always have one foot in history and one foot in contemporary practice. I always go back to history. I look back and re-enact history to go forward.’ It is unclear to me from these works, technically good, as they are, how to see that message in this exhibition.
Inspired concepts and ideas are evident throughout Barbara Walker’s illustrated works, where the use of original and alternative ideas stand proud as evidence of promoting contemporary black practice today, all beautifully illustrated in her established style to convey her messages in new and interesting ways. Although promotion of black art is prevalent in these works, skill and talent are given, accepted and appreciated by all peoples, communities and institutions in Britain toady, and it seems somehow these works are already consigned to another recent past and are already history.
Walker is also showing a series of oil paintings on canvas which can be viewed in the second floor gallery. The outstanding piece for me is titled ‘Attitude’ and is an excellent painting of a young girl, where the details are sensitively and beautifully painted by Walker. However, this work seems quite different in style from her additional paintings being shown alongside it in this space.
All these works are scenes and insights into black lives in various every day situations and are painted in strong colour tones, but without the sensitivity of ‘Attitude’. Although good enough works in themselves, they lack any connection to the concepts or ideas which formed the basis of Barbara’s more progressive drawn pieces and original prints, and show a less progressive technical style than seen in her conceptual pieces.
A surprise addition to the exhibits is a complete room which is wallpapered on theme with printed strips, as an expansion and extension to the ideas relating to the black Windrush characters, all printed in blue tones, featuring drawings and recording of faces from Walker’s portfolio surrounding the room in a repeated pattern.
The Barbara Walker Exhibition runs from 8TH March until 25th May 2025 and is a must see for the excellence of technique in bas-relief print, charcoal and graphite, with use of original conception.
The exhibition was organised by the Whitworth, University of Manchester & the Arnolfini. Initiated by Leanne Green & curated by Poppy Bowers & Hannah Vollam. Works from public and private lenders & support from The Cristea Roberts Gallery, The Jamaican Society, Manchester, The Black South West Network, The University of West of England, Ashley Clinton Barker Mill Trust & Arts Council England
Available in the Arnolfini bookshop is the notable book, ‘The Time is Always now; Artists reframe the black figure’, by Ekow Eshun, which includes images from Barbara Walker’s works and numerous other artists at the forefront of Black Art Practice, and includes ‘VOICES’, Reflections on black bodies and lives, by authors, poets and scholars’.
Deanna de Roche. 2025.
Myths and Machines: Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely
A fun day was had by all at the Hauser & Wirth Gallery complex in Somerset, mingling, eating, drinking and dancing at their well-organised Pumpkin Festival and BBQ on Saturday 25th October, held in outdoor spaces where Niki’s over-sized colourful character sculptures poised and shone amid the revelry. Indoors, the galleries displayed a full exhibition of further witty and original works from the creative duo, Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely.
The BBQ was impressive! Meat dishes prepared by chefs with mulled wine, hot coffee and orange pumpkins roasting over natural wood burners, welcoming and warming. Talented musicians, Ninotchka, played for the crowds all afternoon with guitar, an agile fiddle and a beautiful large white cello played by a man in a black coat, while happy children danced spontaneously on the lawns. There were many stalls too, full of treats to browse, and the Roth bar and farm shop were open. The mood was as upbeat as Niki’s ‘Nana’ sculptures, despite a nip in the air.
This is the first major exhibition in the U.K dedicated to both artists, honouring their collaboration over three decades and is part of Jean Tinguely’s centenary celebrations. Both he and Niki defied convention with their innovative artistic creations and unconventional lifestyle. The couple originally met in Paris in the late 1950s, but mutual support for each other in earnest began much later and saw the production of multiple successful projects, both together and independently, until Tinguely’s death in 1991.This exhibition gives us the opportunity to view up close numerous iconic works from both artists.
The host also provided desirable items to purchase in the bookshop. Amongst these were Niki’s colourful illustrated books for children, and a set of tarot cards featuring the characters she used in her ‘Tarot Park’ experience. Printing these cards was an interesting idea to compliment her sculptures, although information about the characters was not provided on the reverse, which would make them a difficult to use practical resource for any actual readings.
Walking through both the garden and indoor gallery spaces, Niki’s exuberant colourful sculptures, which she named ‘Nanas,’ are displayed throughout, balanced by the contrasting works of Jean. Niki’s giant representations of females are depicted as standing or in static movement poses, brightly painted and voluptuous forms as sculptures, deliberately over-sized, elaborately decorated and unashamedly borrowing architectural influences from the style of Gaudi, with perhaps a feel for the joy and vibrancy of Spanish flamenco. These arresting pieces were initially formed from found objects bound together using papier-mache and wool in an experimental style. Later, during her acquaintance with Jean Tinguely, Niki requested that Jean made iron frameworks for her to use as bases for these pieces.
Perhaps her most expansive monumental work is ‘The Tarot Garden’, which is open to visitors and where twenty-two original sculptural forms adorn the Garavicchio Hill slope, shimmering where glass and ceramic were incorporated into each piece representing traditional characters in tarot, including the Magician, the High Priestess and the Sun, amongst others. Niki spent seventeen years in Italy building this monumental sculpture garden, whilst living with, and assisted by Jean, a team of renowned artists and workers, and also by the Swiss architect Maroi Botta who aided with the larger construction aspects of the project. During her career she collaborated with other influential artists too, including Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg to name but two, and with renowned composer John Cage.
Niki de Saint Phalle, born Catherine Marie-Agnes Fal de Saint Phalle was born on the 29th October 1930. She was a self-taught artist, sculptor and film-maker, with an interest in astrology and hand-illustrated books. She married Jean Tinguely, 1925-1991, following divorce, having freed herself from a turbulent first marriage to Henry Matthews, a musician and writer. Liberation from this unstable and restricting relationship allowed Niki to follow her own brave artistic pathway, frowned upon at that time by her family and conventional society, both of which Niki rejected, but who pursued her through depression and trauma at a time when shock and insulin therapies were seen as a solution to her unhappiness. Hugh Weiss became something of a mentor to Niki during these difficult times, encouraging her creativity and he opened up new avenues of thought and possibility for her. She originally met Tinguely and his then wife, Eva, in 1956, but much of this decade was lost to Niki due to illness. After 1959 Niki moved in with Jean after he separated from his wife. The pair had an open relationship, but a supportive and artistic one, collaborating in creativity, separating in 1971, but continuing to work on numerous projects together until Jean’s death.
Niki was widely exhibited during the remaining years of her life. She was invited to participate in exhibitions at the Centre George Pompidou in Paris where the Director continued to support her work after Jean’s death. Her creations included, ‘Tirs’, 1961-1963, ‘Nanas’ 1964-1973 and ‘Tarot Garden’ until 1998. Her works were shown worldwide at all major galleries and museums including The Prado, Bilboa Park, Sprengel Museum, Hanover, Germany, and at the Museums of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nice, France, and in the U.S.A.
Jean Tinguely was a Swiss kinetic sculptor who became known for his mechanised creations and his ‘metamatics’. Much of his work involved technical motor skills and extensive welding. However, this particular exhibition does not show his exciting controversial hanging pieces which may not be transportable, or the full collection of his beautiful drawings and bas-relief pieces. The colossal room-sized creations, which shocked society during his lifetime, can be seen in the Tinguely Museum, Basel, Switzerland. His life’s works are extensive. Many are larger and better preserved than items showing in Bruton. Films and recordings of Jean’s public and participation pieces are not shown either, although available to view online, and nor were his explosive water and firework displays which were recorded for history. Many of his works are extraordinary and interactive. Participation in these sculptural interactions was extremely popular when first exhibited. How great would it be to see recreations of his theatrical displays and outdoor re-enactments of any ‘lost’ works, or those designed to self-destruct, in true Dada style. His works may have inspired later kinetic sculptural artists, the extraordinary pieces created by Peter Logan perhaps, leading the way and challenging the established view of modern kinetic sculpture today, and its performative possibilities.
Influences stemmed from Tinguely’s study in Basel where he discovered the works of Kurt Schwitters and the Dada Movement, which provided a new, witty, and powerful anti-art commentary in the early twentieth century, where artists working across all media joined forces in a creative satire designed to shock and sensationalise Art. Jean used his love of mechanics as a vehicle to overturn conventional expectations of machinery and to use this as an art form. Tinguely’s first mechanical sculptures were hanging pieces which he named, ‘Meta-Malevich’ in 1954. This morphed into ‘Meta-mechaniques’, and it is this name which has stuck. Jean crafted cast iron bases into elaborate motorised mechanisms, making best use of resurrected found objects and junk, reinventing them into his own visions. Early in his career Jean collaborated with Daniel Spoerri, an artist and dancer, to design and plan an automated theatre production event in lieu of dancers with a mechanical moving set. Jean Tinguely exhibited in Paris with Alexander Calder and Victor Vasarely, and Yves Klein in both exhibition and performance. His work was seen at the Museum of Contemporary Arts in London, in the U.S.A and in Denmark, exhibiting the ‘Vitesse Pure et Stabilite’.
Although I would have been pleased to have seen more of Jean Tinguely’s works at this venue for his centenary celebration, it is, nevertheless, a must see exhibition presented in collaboration with the Niki Charitable Art Foundation. Jean Tinguely was concerned with art in the here and now, and the challenge of creating mechanised artworks using fragile materials which will stand the test of time, is evident from the sculptures on display, and by the welcome, but limited, time allowances for motorised observation and participation of his works. For us though, an illusive historical time capsule from an age of free-spirits, revolutionaries and new art movements, which are still revered today, challenging convention and leading the way for present contemporary art practices.
Deanna de Roche. 2025.
Exhibition runs from the 17th May 2025 to 1st Feb 2026.
Courtesy of Hauser & Wirth, Bruton, Somerset. U.K & The Niki Charitable Art Foundation.
Hauser & Wirth. Durslade Farm, Dropping Lane, Bruton. Somerset. U.K. BA10 0NL
After several Somerset Ciders
To the New Originals, wherever they may be.
It may take several Somerset ciders for a brave person to dare to comment on the unpredictable animal we know as the Art world. The gasps of horror, disgust and surprise from British households when the ‘Sensation movement’ landed in the 90s, was an eyes wide open moment. The uninhibited creativity birthed in the 60s 70s and 80s where nothing was off the table, encouraged steps up the ladder into outrageous and potentially extraordinary creative possibilities, prompting shock ripples that still reverberate today. It could be argued that best creativity arises from revolution, societal change or disaster, but whatever the source, it seems it is profoundly necessary to take leaps of faith and to ignore the critics. We have seen the ‘normalisation’ and monetisation of artists involved in that ‘Sensation movement’ and how it has changed the perception of attitudes to creativity generally, and also of its practitioners, but not necessarily in a good way. It could be argued that exploitation of the Arts by Art markets operating for profit, cast a dubious ‘man in the mirror’ reflection onto any artist who feeds those craving the red meat of profit, yet remaining remote in a distance relationship alien to any creative process, whilst still reaping the benefits of others’ artistic labours.
Surely it was the anti control sentiments, the need for the new, which prompted revolutions like ‘Sensation’ and other 20th century Art of merit, in the first place, Picasso, Pollock, Warhol and Lichtenstein to name but a few, were all short on words, and very big on Art revolution. Yet today the ambiguity of generously funded institutions formally averse to young rebels and kickback revolution from the other side of the tracks, accept and honour these artists into their halls to play by the rules of their game. This gives ‘the shock of the new’ a very different meaning, and as we know, the wings of a rebel gene are very uncomfortable in a cage. It has to be said that much recent exploitative art is neither revolutionary nor profound, and there is a narrowing gap between the ‘shock of the new’ and the sunset on Mrs Smith’s wall in 2024.
The ones that say ‘do’ or ‘don’t’ or ‘yay’ or ‘nay’ have taken the idea of ‘concept’ as in Conceptual Art and transformed it into the idea of process. What is your process in your practice, they ask. This immediately inhibits creative thought, pressure to not only create, but create to a formula and explain it at every turn. This was not how conceptual Art flourished and it will not supplement genius. Turning conceptual into a scientific approach has alienated free-thinkers, and sadly, many of those choosing and approving next generation in the Arts are chained to this dogma. New Art at present seeks sanctuary in revamping what has gone before in the absence of original creative thought; a bit of Boucher, but without figure skills, a bit of Picasso, but without the nerve, or as Rodin said, ‘nothing grows under big trees’. Colour has made a dramatic reappearance, however, if one is seeking originality and a deeper meaning beyond the pleasant, perhaps a visit to a Rothko room instead.
The ‘shock of the new’ ship has sailed away from today’s too shocking world where we trip over guidelines and society’s numb from a barrage of disturbing images which shock every day, and yet, it is still the emotional viewer response to the Art presented, which prompts reaction, whatever that might be, and not the process and explanation, which is akin to explaining sex, without ever experiencing it. Arts need freedom of expression to flourish without fear, so I guess it comes down to those who dare to step outside the cage, and those who don’t. So let’s raise a glass to all original thinkers and talents out there, and let’s leave the cage door open. Cheers!
Deanna de Roche. 2025.
A Treat for all Goya and Rego Aficionados. Uncanny Visions
The Holburne is an eighteenth century Mansion House in Bath, home to Art Galleries and a Museum, also featured in ‘Bridgerton’ as Lady Danby’s house. Currently showing in the first floor gallery is an exceptional offering which is the result of an inspired idea to host a joint exhibition displaying the etchings and dry point works of two Art giants, born two hundred years apart, but together in this space. A comparison to the finite and undisputed genius of Francisco Goya’s etchings would be hard to find, and yet here Rego’s works hang next to those of her personal inspiration, side by side, as if in homage.
Given my admiration for all Goya’s works and a love of Rego’s pastels, I attended with an open mind and generosity of spirit. To view Goya’s innovative genius and exquisite aquatint techniques up close was a deeply felt and appreciated experience. His subtle use of chiaroscuro provided an intriguing subterfuge for glimpses of observed horror and questionable realities, leaving much to the observer’s imagination, as a vampire disappearing into fog or watching a phantasmagoria horror theatre where disturbing images of the unspeakable drift in and out of obscure unexplained darkness. Goya did not search for subject -matter, his own lived experience was of the atrocities called the Napoleonic wars, the Inquisition and indeed his own debilitating illness, were clearly dark material enough to create these masterpieces.
Nursery Rhymes and Folk Tales from her childhood in Portugal gave Rego the vehicle she needed to reinterpret their original concepts and meanings and morph them into her own sinister tales and fables, many cruel and perverse reflections of societal ills, where familiar existing characters take on a darker face. Goya and Rego understood the depths of human vulnerability, repulsion, victimhood, passion and despair; it is here on these walls for all to see. The pain of humankind was etched into their hearts and transferred onto their etching plates.
Through her own personal admiration for Goya, Rego travelled to Spain to study the master’s works, which makes this dual display all the more poignant. This collection of etchings from Rego’s estate is impressive, demonstrating her competence as an etcher but also highlighting the differences in style between these two. Rego’s bold robust technique, a hallmark of her work, forms a contrast to the subtlety of Goya’s unsurpassed refined skill in aquatint and his ethereal undertones. Nonetheless, the Rego etchings make strong statements, are equally valid in their own right, and much admired independently for their re-imagined content and effective striking contrast techniques, but for me the etching prints lacked the sensitivity of her drawings in the use of this medium.
The Goya prints are as clear and sharp today as when he pulled them off the press 220 years ago, a tribute to the quality of the materials and inks he used. Rego’s are sharp and black and powerful. All prints in this exhibition are pristine high quality prints and a commendable tribute to both.
Life Journeys
Francisco Goya y Lucientes was born in 1746 in Saragossa, Paula Rego in 1935 in Lisbon.
Both came to etching in later life and had a strong sense of social justice, a strong character and a passion for life. Each bore witness to arrogance, ignorance, the futility of war and poor governance and both bravely fought injustice through the medium of Art.
Goya, age thirteen was apprenticed to a painter producing large provincial canvases for churches. He failed to get into the Royal Academy twice. He was stabbed in the back by a rival husband, hunted by the Inquisition, and fought in the bull-ring. He designed fashionable Rococo style tapestries in the studios of Francisco Bayeu y Subias in Madrid to escape the Inquisition’s investigations. Goya married Bayeu’s sister Josepha in 1773. Despite Goya’s numerous affairs she remained faithful to him until her death in 1812. She also introduced him to the Court, and commissions followed. Goya drew Spanish peasants and gypsies, bull fighters and courtesans, Majos and Majas, and he mixed well with Court life. His mistresses were the most powerful women in Spain.
Rego remained in Portugal with her Grandmother during her childhood until 1939 whilst her parents moved to England due to work placements. It was during this time spent with her Grandmother and the family maid that Rego is said to have enjoyed hearing their stories about old Folk Tales, Fairy Tales and traditional stories, and had been influenced by the subject-matter. She attended English language school in Lisbon and St. Julian’s School in Carcavelos from 1945-1951, when she moved to the U.K and attended the The Grove at Sevenoaks, before attending the Slade to study Art from 1952-1956.
Goya, amongst other artists, was invited in 1778 by the King to produce engravings of the Royal Tapestries. Among the other candidates Valesquez most impressed Goya, and this admiration was life-long. At this time in Spain the church was an obsessive dominant power discouraging creativity and free spirit thinking. Goya’s portraits were much admired and commissions flowed.
Rego made rapid progress at the Slade and joined the London Group exhibiting with David Hockney, amongst others, possibly a group of six. Her style was more abstract at that time. From 1962 she participated in numerous shows at the ICA, Institute of Cotemporary Arts, including a solo show there, and at the SNBA, Sociedale National de Belas Artes, Lisbon.
Goya suffered an unknown illness in 1792, which was devastating. He was delirious for months, became partially paralysed for a while and there was a possibility that he would go blind. When he finally recovered it left him deaf. The experience changed him and his Art, but his artistic drive remained undiminished. The superstitious and grotesque behaviour of soldiers and peasants repulsed him.
Rego met Victor Willing at the Slade, and they had an affair which resulted in Paula having an abortion, as Willing was already married to another artist. The rights of women and the right to have an abortion feature strongly in Paula’s later work. These experiences were influential to her commitment to freedom of choice for women and to prompt societal change. Pregnant again with Victor’s child, Rego opted to keep the baby this time, and in 1957 moved to Portugal. Following divorce from his first wife Willing followed Paula there and they were married. They were parents to three children, Caroline, Victoria and Nick. In 1967 Rego’s father bought a house in Camden, London, and Rego’s time was then split between London and Portugal
Goya painted the Duchess of Alba in 1795 at the time of their much publicised affair. He was made Court painter to Charles 4th in 1799. Riots erupted against the French ruling regime. The Napoleonic wars began, lasting from 1803 until 1815. From 1810-1813 Goya worked feverishly, and created ‘The Disasters of War’ set of prints, a reaction and a recording of the horrors inflicted by the French army. On May 2nd 1808 the French cavalry cut down rioters with sabres, killing hundreds. Further executions followed the next day, and hence Goya’s painting ‘the Defenders of Madrid’ which perfectly demonstrates disgust through the powerful use of chiaroscuro in this painting. In 1819 Goya returned to Quinto de Sordo and worked obsessively, painting the walls with visions reflecting his nightmares.
Rego had a flourishing career exhibiting widely, including being the Portuguese representative at the 1969 Art Biennal, plus solo shows in Lisbon and Porto. Between, 1971-1978 Rego held a series of solo exhibitions in the U.K, including at the Air Gallery, the Serpentine and the Arnolfini in Bristol. In 1990 she was the first associate artist at the National Gallery, and began printmaking in 1991. The Nursery Rhymes series continued until 1996. In 1995 Rego revisited themes using pastel including Snow White and other feminism themes. Large scale works were inspired by Carlo Crivelli in the National Gallery, known as Crivelli’s Garden. Other exhibitions followed in Madrid, France and Mexico.
Goya had a second serious illness in 1820 which he again recovered from, and after which he painted 14 murals known as the ‘Black paintings’ which now reside in the Museo del Prado, having been transferred onto canvas by Salvador Martinez-Cubells in 1874 and donated to the Spanish State in 1881 by their owner Baron d’Erlanger.
Rego was commissioned to design a set of stamps for Royal Mail on the theme of Jane Eyre in 2004. Rego was represented by the Victoria Miro Gallery and Cristea Roberts Gallery. 43 of her works are in the British Council Collection, 10 in the Arts Council of England and 48 at the Tate Gallery, London. Rego had a most successful career and left us a vast body of exceptional work. Rego died at home on 8th June 2022 and is buried in Hampstead, London.
Goya again fell under suspicion from the Inquisition in 1824 for ‘liberal’ activities. Goya was quoted as saying ‘I have only three masters, Velasquez, Rembrandt and Nature’. He was exiled to France. Here he was employed as a portrait painter to the Bourbon French Royal family. Here, Goya, painter, satirist, printmaker, wit and tour de force sadly died in 1828.
The Benton Museum of Art now owns four sets of Goya first edition prints, a total 211, Los Caprichos, 1799, Los Desastres of War, 1799, Los Desastres of de la Guerra, 1810-20 and Los Disparates, 1815-24, were given to Promo College. In 1998 the museum purchased ‘La Tauromaquia’, 1815-16.
Uncanny Visions: Paula Rego and Francisco de Goya.
27th September 2024 – 5th January 2025 at The Holburne Museum, Bath, BA2 4BD U.K.
Deanna de Roche. 2025.
Phyllida Barlow: Unscripted
An inspiring posthumous exhibition where substantial elements of Barlow’s work have been reconstructed and displayed in the picturesque Barn Gallery complex that is Hauser and Wirth in Somerset, an impressive venue with its beams, stone floors and a unique ‘found object’ bar, which is not only beautiful but strangely on theme for this exhibition. Barlow’s sculptures follow a theatrical path around the galleries and then out into the courtyard, farmyard and gardens, where the ‘PRANK’ sculptures are featured, a selection previously shown in Manhattan in 2023.
Seeing, saving and giving, were the words which initially came to mind when looking at Phyllida’s legacy, and I felt this was applicable to her teaching, her family and also to the pre-loved discarded materials which were adopted by her and received a resurrection through her compassion and vision. These were utilised in the creation of unexpected offerings for her audience. Perhaps as a saviour of stuff, the angel of the skip, Barlow was good at spotting potential in the discarded and unwanted ‘ too good to waste’ items she collected, being able to translate the possibilities of reclaimed objects and elevating them, phoenix-like, into sculptural statements which transformed spaces. Phyillida Barlow had a big heart and a big vision, and an eye on fly-tipping.
It could be argued that restriction of self-development for the love of others is a form of self-sacrifice when our lives are so short. Many talented artists who are also mothers experience this, arriving in the morning at paid workplaces lacking rest, following the nocturnal impulse for personal artistic creativity when the family sleeps. Phyllida called the pieces that she produced in this way ‘Nightworks’. These works also indicated the direction of Barlow’s future sculptural path which she pursued when her teaching career ended and her five children were grown. These are hard trodden roads for still evolving and developing talents. Even with the support of the establishment and the love of her husband throughout her life, which, it has to be said, many Fine Artists do not have, Phyllida seemed to have so much more to give us before she ran out of road. Any time commitment from a gifted soul given in love to others should be treasured by them, for it may come at great personal cost. Barlow taught at the Slade for forty years to much acclaim, and left us many successful sculptors who were inspired by her tutorage, with deserved credit to both teacher and student.
Anyone who seeks the neat and tidy, and deplores the rough and ready might be wise to choose a different exhibition experience. This is the ‘rough male kiss of blankets’ as Rupert Brooke once wrote, of exhibitions. Phyllida liked her work to be rough around the edges, and for those edges to be undefined. If you cherish the unfinished and the spontaneous, you will find Barlow’s works exciting and reassuring. ‘It’s an argument with the world’, Phyllida wrote. Her disrespect for the spaces her works engulf is tangible, where her creativity fights to ignore, dominate and change the rooms that they inhabit. Unplanned solid considerations and contradictions irreverently own this space.
One room contains maquettes arranged on a table, samples constructed as experiments testing the balance and stability of unstable angled miniatures, an intro for the development of larger works. There is an excellent film screening of Barlow in her studio included in the exhibition. Phyllida spoke quietly, but was clearly creating her own wrecking balls to demolish preconceptions in Art. She was wearing an oversized plaster-covered jacket, was diverted, exploring the random, worlds away from recognisable female pampering, yet bold as Miley Cyrus of wrecking ball fame, still colliding with establishments and smashing through the concrete walls of conformity and convention. Wrecking balls here hang equally heavy, but are formed from random materials honed together roughly, as if finishing and polishing were something to be avoided or despised, each becoming larger and more extreme in their conception. Roosevelt once said, ‘speak softly and carry a big stick’, most apt in Barlow’s case with a dual meaning.
Her studio was full of reclamation. She used fibreglass, wire- netting, fabric, rope, wire, expanding foam, concrete, glue, plaster and wood, all linked together through the mediums of welding, plaster, glue, nails and paint. Whatever medium was applied, Phlllida challenged the status quo of mix, apply, finish, and re-wrote the rule book of application technique.
Born in Newcastle in 1944, post-war influences of destruction she saw in the East End of London as a child, hung heavy on Phyllida. The atmospheres of WW2’s destruction echoed through time and fed into her later works, where ‘order from chaos’ comparisons can be drawn through observed human experiences and forms. Jagged unfinished edges of raw fabric, wood, metal, pipe and brick had awaited clearance in that post-war desolation, where the value of shattered objects and buildings was diminished, debris awaiting deliverance.
The 1960s and 70s birthed a new era of free expression, liberation and non-conformity. Against this backdrop Phyllida spent her Art College years at the Chelsea and Slade Schools of Art. King Crimson’s ‘20th Century Schizoid Man’ provided the soundtrack for a brave new world where rebellion was expected and accepted, and equality for women had arrived. This freedom to create for both new and established audiences posed its own new dilemmas and challenges in the creative Arts, but the gauntlet had hit the ground, plaster covered or not, and the challenges accepted. ‘I am the lizard king’, wrote Jim Morrison, ‘I can do anything’.
‘How can it be a different experience’, Phyllida has said. ‘Shedmesh’, first held to acclaim in 1975, and subsequently dismantled and re-made, appeared at this time, along with Phyllida’s first baby. Barlow acknowledged influences from Tony Smith, Arte Povera’s Anti-form, and the grid structures of Polish weavers during this period. I, personally, still find the re-made ‘Shedmesh’ to be a thing of beauty and a stand out piece for me.
Wall space is devoted to a series of Barlow’s small paintings, hung uniformly where the colour sings out. They seem flat and three-dimensional all at once, and although fluid, lack the random unexplained developmental progression evident in her sculpture, almost preconceived planned statements, with a hint of Howard Hodgkin perhaps, although painted edges are surprisingly finished in these. I could not see the concept of recycle and up-cycle present in their execution at all, quite out of lockstep with Barlow’s sculptural innovations, where her confidence to embrace the random and change her work as it progressed, was important. I felt that experimental collages would have lent themselves more as a complimentary addition to her three dimensional practice instead, and what a joy they would have been!
‘Not quite knowing where the reality is’, Phyllida wrote, and surely the very essence of that uneasy concept in her work, is an Art form in itself.
In addition to numerous exhibitions Barlow was invited to create theatre sets for Mozart’s Idomeneo opera in Munich. She thought of her large sculptures as theatrical experiences creating a connective space with an audience, and saw this opportunity as pertinent. Barlow also exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2017 consuming the British Pavilion with her large sculptural experience named ‘Folly’.
This exhibition is highly recommended and runs until 5th January 2025.
Curator Frances Morris. Hauser and Wirth. Durslade Farm. Dropping Lane, Bruto, Somerset. BA10 0NL U.K.
Deanna de Roche. 2024.
The Art of Surviving Rejection
Across all creative sectors it seems that the complex relationship between creativity and mental health is largely ignored in these times with so few empathetic souls even acknowledging that there’s a problem, let’s just say that within the established systems regulating the world of Art, it’s not a pressing issue.
Looking at the pitfalls facing hopeful artists embracing uncertainty who seek inclusion in exhibition participation, to the onlooker it seems that little consideration aforethought is given to the impact upon mental health from standard rejection emails sent from judging panels. The problem with this repeated rejection by email format, where no feedback is available, is that there is an actual very real and vulnerable person on the receiving end of thoughtlessly composed rejection notifications, not a piece of Art work. The perceived value of that ‘rejected’ talent is undoubtedly damaged and undermined by the imposition of each rejection label inflicted upon them, from groups, panels or curators judging the artist’s work. Creators seek acceptance and affiliation to groups and societies for professional recognition and career advancement, but appreciation and understanding of their talent or potential, and indeed them, is not forthcoming, one could say obstructed. Perhaps it’s all about the money, honey! Fees to join groups or enter exhibitions are mandatory where so many enter but few are chosen, and many of the chosen ones are often already members of the exclusive clubs potentially offering opportunity. Artists lucky enough to have been selected to exhibit are faced with the loss of the artwork’s value to them, as high commission fees are deducted from any accepted works sold, simply for the privilege of acceptance and display in the chosen venue.
An Artist’s Bio is now also a standard requirement for competition and exhibition entry alongside the creative submission. These missives are given to judges and curators for their perusal, in order that the submitting artist’s status information may be ascertained, which includes their previous record of acceptability history by other galleries and institutions, obviously putting those without past kudos at a further disadvantage. However, the demoralising standard lines sent in a rejection email are the real bone of contention and a clear red light to mental health danger. The notification may say that, it was a really strong field this year, or that there were so many more entries this time, or that the judging selection process was based on the quality and merit of submissions judged by a panel of experts, or that we chose from an excellent niche few, all of which does nothing, of course, for the mental health of less resilient talented applicants, who will often need additional support in order to continue to create confidently towards success. Rejection notifications automatically prompt a reaction of disappointment, but when the wording in them is also poorly constructed, inevitably further unnecessary body-blows will affect the health of the receiver. The worst of all lines, ‘we had a strong field’ is used regularly in put downs by ‘judging panels’, which obviously implies that work sent by hopeful talents to them, is of a lesser standard than the works of those chosen by the panel or curator, in their opinion. The key words here are ‘in their opinion’, hold that message.
Beware those who are quick to judge
C.Bukowski
Here emotional resilience and a clear Joe Root type swipe is needed to rebound and reinforce personal Zen, checking the essential shield of personal boundaries is in place to rebalance what is given and how it is received. The alternative to these unsuccessful random applications is of course, to seek other positive routes outside of the recognised Art establishments. This approach would take a free-thinking spirit, courage, support, research and possibly cash. This pathway has been the chosen route of many artistic greats historically, whose talents have been consistently rejected and ridiculed by the establishment of the day. Charles Bukowski, a writer challenged by his own mental health issues, who wrote memorable and wise words from his own soul-searching, which resonate anew with audiences today
Your life is your life
C.Bukowski
Don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission
Be on the watch, there are ways out
There is a light somewhere
It may not be much light but it beats the darkness
Be on the watch, the gods will offer you chances
You are marvellous
The gods wait to delight in you
Among the many who suffered continued rejection and fought mental health issues, but were later revered by all establishments, and indeed the world, were the incredible works of troubled souls, Hieronymus Bosch and Vincent van Gogh. Both transcended mental health difficulties and went their own way in the face of cruel criticism of both their character and their craft from institutions, and, against all odds, achieved personal creative success in their lifetimes, note that I didn’t say financial success. Art was not only their precious gift and their life, but also their saviour in dire circumstances. When talented colourist George Seurat lost his son he consumed himself in colour theory development which he practised in his paintings. It served as a means of therapy and recovery for him at a time of loss and trauma, in addition to fostering excellence in his Fine Art. Colour therapy is used today in many forms and treatments to promote healing and feelings of well-being for sufferers, harnessing the power of nature. Other examples are Camille Claudel, a talented sculptor who fought rejection and succumbed to prolonged psychosis for most of her life, and Edvard Munch who survived episodes of deep depression through creating his unique paintings and use of his superb printmaking skills. In healing therapies individual reactions to different colour exposures may prompt positive or negative experiences in the observer. Green and blue, for example, promote feelings of calm and well-being, but all the colours of the spectrum resonate in diverse ways upon individuals. Art practice as Fine Art parse, would not be recognised as Art Therapy in the accepted sense as we understand it today, where art in therapy is encouraged to provide therapists with visual material which may reveal insights, indications of possible trauma, deeply felt loss and consequences of abuse experiences, when visual explanations may be helpful, or an addition to talking therapies in the process of complex healing. Sources of inspiration are complex as are issues relating to mental health in Art. Many paintings by revered artists have been the subject of psycho-analysis in an attempt to delve into and uncover the underlying meanings and inspirations which prompted these works, but we know that all these opinions are subjective, and limited to personal resource, intuition and factual research availability. It could be argued that mental health challenges dwell more readily within the unfathomable creative mind, where vital self-belief is often hindered by the imposition of naive assessments and ill-considered judgements from others, possibly in authoritative positions in institutions and workplaces, or indeed within the home environment, where imposed conformity to others’ expectations or outsider judgements, are at odds with the precious illusive spark residing within creators. Numerous artists, Pollock and Kusama to name but two more, single-mindedly surpassed mental health issues throughout their lives whilst on the road to success, where Art was an all-consuming compulsion to create with or without approval, in ways which were their own, despite institutional criticism.
I would argue that a more sensitive and considerate approach is needed towards artists in all sectors, than the one adopted at present by those in a trusted capacity passing judgement on creative talents today who have submitted their works hopefully and in good faith.
Beware the knowers,
C.Bukowski
Beware those who are quick to censor
They are afraid of what they do not know
‘Not being able to create art, they will not understand art
They will consider their failure as creators, only as a failure of the world.
Unnecessary discontent and confusion may be avoided by analysis of the varying current definitions of what is described as ‘contemporary’ Art, before submitting any work anywhere, if contemporary is a preferred genre as a Fine Artist. This term has become an ambiguous label in the Art-world today where understandings of the definition of ‘contemporary’ may be misunderstood by the submitter. Interpretations may vary! Much newly-created Art advertised under this label falls outside of the anticipated experimental or innovative expectations of the new, where works often visually reiterate familiar subject-matter, skills and techniques, but lack different outcomes. The question of direction for all creators seeking personal development of their practice may be the decision-dilemma of whether to follow existing routes endorsed by establishments, walking approved pathways, or whether these options are seen as incompatible with a personal set of artistic goals and preferences, opting to explore the open road of possibilities. Following, not leading from the front may be a challenge if your inclinations differ. Adherence to current trends of accepted thinking within Art organisations on the off-chance that the dice may roll in your favour, should prompt further personal introspection at the crossroads. ‘Out of the in-box’ thinking may leave artists excluded from group exhibition acceptability and increase pressure to please curators and institutions at any cost. Neither does it take into account learnt experiences or possible recurring limitations of judgement in assessors, who may consistently lean towards choices appealing to their own sense of familiarity in any decision-making, leading to rejection of works presented by artists, whose personal style and development falls outside of known cycles of preference, in a sort of groundhog day scenario.
Nothing grows under big trees
A.Rodin
Gallery sponsorship sources may also need clarification, but a few brave independent galleries are prepared to give a platform to the unknown, the unaffiliated and the obscure. A search for these gems in the dark caves of this niche industry may well be worth the effort, not only for the exhibiting opportunities offered, but also for the mutual support potential from like-minded creators seeking the same, with an awareness that there is a fragile balance between hope and despair where mental health issues are involved, be they innate or induced. ‘Kafkaesque’ has become a by-word for surreal and inexplicable experiences. The term heralds from the written art of Frank Kafka, whose own mental health struggles and self-worth challenges formed the foundation of his extraordinary writing. Anne Sexton explored the bi-polar and depression issues which plagued her life through her poetry in an attempt to comprehend what was happening to her, as did talented authors Edgar Allan Poe and Virginia Woolf, who both suffered the same diagnoses, but left us a rich legacy in their wake, as did a plethora of other tortured talents. One creative genre providing an empathetic platform in print is receiving increased exposure and praise. The world of the Graphic Novel with appealing new formats, uses story-telling with illustration to communicate how mental health affects our life journeys and creativity. These works often draw inspiration from shared personal experiences, offering a source of support through publications. Graphic books and comics are filling a gap where consideration of impactful mental health issues, have ceased to be a priority elsewhere within the Arts. Relatable characters are given a voice in print, sharing emotional responses within their real or perceived realities, or imagined scenarios. Below, a few examples from a large selection of graphic writings addressing challenges in mental health today, and the complex life journeys emanating from them.
Marbles: Mania Depression Michelangelo and Me, by Ellen Forney. This graphic novel highlights living with bi-polar as a creative. Ellen brings to light the highs and lows of the condition and the impact of medication on her own artistic skills capability and mood changes, and although first published in 2012, is relevant today.
Tales of Mestrya, Book 1: Krochus Quest by Joey S. Hutton, published 2025, is a unique 300 page graphic novel in hardback from Orbus Studios. Beautifully illustrated, the book follows Krochus on his life journey and adventures. He undertakes brave decision-making, shedding inhibitions and fear to ultimately achieve personal fulfilment and reunion with unconditional love and support. A cast of diverse characters are met on-route who influence in different ways, making the characterisation and inter-relationship formations in this work complex but identifiable.
Lavender Clouds by Bex Ollerton, published 2024, is a brave graphic comic which outlines her own personal neuro-divergent experiences, highlighting the lights, darks and the colourless within Autism and ADHD. With beautiful and sensitive illustrations this publication offers resilience solutions from the author’s own experiences.
Theatre and dance have their own intense challenges often linked to anxiety, but that is a piece for another day!
Be true to yourself.
Deanna de Roche. 2025.
Please contact me at deannaderoche@gmail.com
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