Statement
Many of my landscapes are of the Lake District, I
love fell walking. I do not draw or paint whilst walking, believing
(like Malcolm Whittaker) that this ties me to the memory of the
drawing, whereas I want to express the memory of feeling. I work
them up in my studio in Leamington Spa from visual memory and
imagination.
I revel in the freedom of using mixed media,
combining 'unnoble' materials with fine art media in order to
express the grandeur, wonder and beauty of the land.
The majority are painted on Fabriano paper.
Biography
Sheila Millward was born in Hull and now lives in
Leamington Spa with her husband, Maurice. She has 2 sons, 2
daughters and a plethora of grandchildren.
"I am a mixed media artist who revels in fine
art and 'unnoble' materials. Subjects can be the nude, flowers,
issue based work and landscape - I love fell walking. I do not stop
to draw whilst walking as I believe this would tie me to the memory
of the drawing, not the memory of feeling. 'Before anything else, a
painting is a place, a site for imaginative possibilities' - Malcolm
Whittaker."
Sheila gained a Master of Arts with Merit in Fine
Art and Theory at the Coventry School of Art & Design, Coventry
University in 1996. Her main body of work focused on 'an emotional
response to Terezin (Teresenstadt)' (see 'Holocaust'
work). The thesis highlighted art as a tool for mental resistance
and spiritual regeneration in the face of human suffering and
tragedy. This body of work has toured Worcester and Coventry
Cathedrals and Saint Mary’s Shrewsbury, Holy Trinity Church in
Leamington Spa and the Aerospace Museum in Cosford.
"Sheila's work could be constructed from
anything - the medium she uses is dependent on the message she
wishes to communicate. She uses a variety of found objects, paint,
bitumen, paper and fabrics, transforming them into sculptures or
'assemblages'. The rawness of the materials communicate with us, in
the fragility of the tissue paper, the sinister nature of ash and
the preciousness of oil paint. Sheila's intense personal response
prompts us to examine the dichotomy of mankind demonstrated in the
depths of man's inhumanity and through the courageous lives of those
she celebrates." - Kate Brindley,
Wolverhampton Art Gallery.
Solo exhibitions include Helios Gallery, Midlands
Arts Centre, Park View Gallery and Birmingham University in
Birmingham; Hereford City Art Gallery; Arts Centre Group and Albany
Theatre, London; Crucible Theatre, Sheffield; Leamington Spa Art
Gallery; The Edinburgh Fringe Festival; University of Warwick
Library Gallery and Bleddfa Centre, Wales.
Other exhibitions include Royal Academy, London;
Ferens Art Gallery, Hull; Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield; Harewood
House, Leeds; Royal Academy, Bristol; Candid Arts, Mall Galleries,
Llewellyn Alexander, Fresh Art Fair and St James Piccadilly, London;
Herbert Art Gallery and Belgrade Theatre, Coventry; Royal Academy
and Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester; RBSA and Bond Gallery,
Birmingham; Castlegate Gallery, Cockermouth and Tullie House
Gallery, Carlisle; Cuppola Gallery, Sheffield.
Sheila has won awards at Helios Open in 1990,
Birmingham Institute in 1992, Eleanor Print Leamington Spa in 1995,
Laing Landscape 1994 and 1995, and Leamington Spa Open in 2000, and
has work in various collections including British Rail NW Division,
Lord Parkinson.
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