December Exhibition - Jess Kidd: Looking Both Ways
Tuesday 28th November 2023 - Wednesday 6th January 2024
Opening event Friday 1st December
5pm - 8pm
Jess Kidd is a multi-disciplinary artist, with a current focus on mixed-media painting, and her exhibition provokes people to reconsider the familiar or mundane.
Jess Kidd is a multi-disciplinary artist, with a current focus on mixed media painting.
She grew up over the moor in Keighley; and graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2008.
In her early to mid 20s, Jess experienced a prolonged period of serious illness, when her art took a backseat.
Nevertheless, her practice has re-emerged in recent years. This year she was awarded the Emerging Artist Award by the Scott Creative Arts Foundation, Thirsk; and the 2023 Joan Day Bursary by South Square Centre, Thornton, resulting in time to develop her practice and a solo exhibition.
After moving back home, Jess was captivated by the West Yorkshire post-industrial landscape she had taken for granted as a child. As a result, she began to experiment with painting it for the first time.
She is inspired by art that provokes people to reconsider the familiar or mundane. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) informs both her creative process and her subject matter. She aims to challenge people's thoughts towards where we live, encouraging celebration and appreciation.
She loves to experiment, play with, and manipulate materials, and is driven by a passionate intention to convey her interpretations of reality. Throughout 2023, Jess also exhibited and demonstrated at the Great Yorkshire Show, Art Show; ran workshops for The Brontë Parsonage Museum; had work shown on Bradford Centenary Square's, Big Screen; and is currently exhibiting at The Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield.
After such a busy year, Looking Both Ways aims to encapsulate the journey Jess has been on and exhibit how Jess's work has evolved along the way