Visual artist Michelle Leigh presents two new bodies of work both with links to Salford. In the first series the female figure dominates the picture plane. These paintings arise from the Artist’s own experience of living outside of her former traditional cultural homelife. She is fascinated by the similarities between cultures; how we are more alike than unalike, delighting in a rich diversity on the streets of Salford.
The unifying element is the compression of space where little or no distance exists between background and foreground giving the effect the figures are constantly being enclosed by their surroundings.
The second series funded by Arts Council England during Covid 19 explores the theme of landscape as sanctuary, a celebration of nature during and post lockdowns, Kersal Wetlands and Reddish Vale feature. Areas of strange beauty seem touched by the extraordinary. An attempt to meld ‘myth and magic, the fabular and the mundane’.
These paintings are about the Artist’s response to experience, her need to tell stories through the language of paint and contemporary imagery. As Painter Peter Doig says about Bonnard’s use of space in relation to his own work:
“It’s not a photographic space at all, it’s a memory space, but one which is based on reality’’.
On display in our Park Gallery from 30 August 2025 to 8 February 2026. Please note this gallery is open weekends and school holidays only.
The Park Gallery is curated in partnership with Pinc College, with students making the final decision on artists exhibiting in the space.
Join us on Saturday 30th August from 1pm as the artist officially opens her solo show.
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