Artist: Jo Rance

Twilight Contemporary presents A Spring Hum, the debut solo exhibition of Cambridgeshire-based artist Jo Rance. Drawing on the quiet hum of life in the countryside and the murmurs that signal the arrival of spring, Rance captures the emotional essence of the natural world.

Standing amongst her work, you quickly forget contemporary distractions and enter a world where trees whistle and buds sparkle. A place where the arrival of spring sings, with hares dancing in the meadows and swans basking by the riverside in the early spring warmth. These are joyful works that unashamedly draw attention to the quiet richness of our ordinary landscape.

You will notice that some of Rance’s works have vanishing points that follow rivers or pathways, while other pieces ignore draughting rules and instead stitch the countryside together with different elements layering and overlapping. Along with swift brushstrokes and a myriad of textures, her work brings a new attention to light, colour, and atmosphere.

A marrying of acidic greens and pastel pinks may not appear in your local hedgerow, but Rance’s use of this palette somehow makes the work feel more alive. Rose tinted tree trunks turn the woodlands into a realm of fairytale that moves the works away from realism and into an exploration of atmosphere. Her works feel responsive and immediate, where the fluidity of vibrant colour palettes express a deep wonder of the natural world.

Drawing on Rance’s background in woven textiles, her paintings seem to follow a logic borrowed from her roots in weaving, where colour and textures are layered and shapes meet at sharp angles. These form frames cast within the landscape, and draw attention to moving grasses, scattered earth and flower heads, in turn creating a kaleidoscope like view. As you walk through the exhibition, these works trace a path through the countryside, where the gentle hum of the changing seasons is tangible.