To coincide with the exhibition of Justine Randall’s tapestries at The New Art Centre and the Crafts Study Centre, the two venues are collaborating on a day-long event at the New Art Centre, East Winterslow, Wiltshire. Included is a two-hour tour of the Roche Court Sculpture Park, Galleries and a Q & A session with Justine Randall in the afternoon, chaired by Crafts Study Centre Director Stephen Knott.
In Justine’s exhibition The Night Sky, five abstract wall hanging tapestries dominate Roche Court’s main Gallery. She is concerned with how different times affect our environment, and how in turn this shapes our emotions. Tapestry is a deeply visceral and tactile medium, as such, it is perfect for conveying the complex emotions she associates with the night. Justine dyes her own yarn with a deeply engrained knowledge of colour. She is also in complete control of the process free to convey thoughts and emotions with the utmost clarity and honesty.
“I want people to be aware of their environment, I feel that I’ve got to be an advocate for tapestry as well, because it’s such an ancient, vibrant and exciting art form.” - Justine Randall
From January to May, Justine’s tapestry Kettles and Elements will be hung in the Crafts Study Centre foyer. The display follows Justine’s ties with the Centre established in the light of the 2024 exhibition focusing on Justine’s teacher and mentor, Mary Farmer (Mary Farmer: A Life in Tapestry).
The New Art Centre, Roche Court Sculpture Park is a commercial gallery set in the rolling Wiltshire countryside, near Salisbury. Established in Sloane Street, London in 1958, the New Art Centre is a specialist in 20th and 21st-century art. In 1994, the gallery moved from London to its current location at Roche Court, East Winterslow in Wiltshire. The house at Roche Court was originally built in 1804. The park and woodlands which surround the house enable us to focus on exhibiting outdoor sculpture, making the New Art Centre, Roche Court Sculpture Park a pioneer of the commercially-run sculpture park in the UK. Since 1958, the gallery has championed showing young and emerging artists as its core ambition. Today, the gallery continues to show those artists who first exhibited with us decades ago. Now in mid- or late-career, we site those artists in the gardens and in our award-winning contemporary indoor spaces. The Scottish architect, Stephen Marshall has added four indoor exhibition spaces at Roche Court Sculpture Park; The Gallery & Orangery; The Artist’s House; The Design House; and The Stable Gallery. Each have won several architectural awards. This expansion has enabled us to stage a closely-curated exhibition programme of modern and contemporary painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramics and textiles.
The mission of the Crafts Study Centre is to nurture and celebrate the study and practice of craft in all its diverse forms. Harnessing the rich collections of twentieth and twenty-first century studio craft in its care, including maker archives, the Crafts Study Centre intends to make research into craft history and practice more accessible, dynamic, and relevant to audiences both in-person and online.
Schedule
10.30am - Arrive top car park, register
11.00am - Welcome, Tea, Coffee and Biscuits – Design House
11.30am - Tour of Sculpture Park and Galleries
1.30pm - Break for picnic lunches
2.00pm - Q&A with Justine Randall – The Gallery
3pm - Finish
Justine Randall, Philip King and Isaac Witkin’s works in the Gallery at the NewArtCentre, Roche Court Sculpture Park.