Light & Shadow Exhibition Review

The Light & Shadow art exhibition opened at the Suzhou Arts Collective gallery last Friday. The Light & Shadow exhibition was the culmination of months of work by Dulwich International High School Suzhou Teacher and Artist Vikki Gibson. The exhibition showcased not only 22 of Vikki’s stunning watercolor paintings but also the work of a group of contributing artists from the school, including three students as well as teachers.

Some of Vikki's Paintings

All the contributors in the show had taken part in a watercolour challenge that Vikki had set. The objective was ambitious. To learn how to paint with watercolours, to a sufficient standard to produce a work suitable to be displayed in a professional art exhibition, in just six weeks! Most of the contributing artists started out as absolute beginners, who had never painted with watercolours before.

The evening opened with a short speech from Jeff Sootheran, the Gallery proprietor, who thanked everybody for attending the opening and supporting arts and artists in Suzhou. This was followed by a delightful piano solo from Hannah Gates and a String quartet performance. Two members of the quartet were none other than the Deputy Director of Dulwich International High School Suzhou: Richard Nunns and the Head of Mathematics at our School: Martin Crozier. They played several classical compositions from living composers. Their skill and musicianship were appreciated by the large audience.

After this, the growing crowd were wowed by an incredible dance performance, in which the dancers blended contemporary dance and hip hop in a stunning display of grace and athleticism. Once the dancers had finished their performance, it was time to meet the artist. Vikki Gibson was invited to give a short talk about her work and to discuss the inspiration behind the Light & Shadow Exhibition. Throughout the speech she was supported by Lemon Zhai who translated for her.

During the artist talk Vikki made a number of interesting points: She acknowledged that the creative process is always a challenge and that it takes a big effort to make something look effortless. Anything worth doing is worth pushing through, practicing and not giving up. Its very easy to give up or to not even try something because it is hard, however much more rewarding to continue the struggle until you have accomplished your goals. Vikki also congratulated the contributing artists who did achieve their goals and recognised the enormous effort to become a successful exhibiting artist.

We interviewed Vikki at the end of the evening, and this is what she had to say about the experience:

“This exhibition marks a change of artistic direction for me as my background is in graphic design and illustration. I can now confidently call myself an artist having accomplished watercolour painting and exhibited as a fine artist. I am a committed lifelong learner and I’m now excited about the prospect of taking my work in another direction and extending my painting skills further.

I am really delighted to be sharing this exhibition with 11 other artists, it’s a true collaboration. Staff contributors are teachers from a variety of departments including maths, biology, art, and the library. We have all worked hard to get to this stage and our commitment and dedication resulted in this wonderful exhibition. The Arts Collective is the ideal space to showcase our work, the light and space compliment the theme of the exhibition, Light and Shadow, perfectly. "

Jeff Sootheran, the owner of Suzhou Arts Collective, was effusive in his praise for Vikki:

“Vikki’s artwork is very impressive, and I think her concept of bringing in others is fantastic. I hope to see more of this in Suzhou. I particularly liked her painting of the teapot and red fan, because of her use of contrasting colours. Her work has a definite traditional Chinese influence which works great with her unique blend of western style still life aesthetics.”

The event was a great success, in large part due to the support of the broader community at Dulwich International High School Suzhou.

Exhibiting staff artists:

• Shannon Adriaan
• Rama Chintapalli
• Dilys Ding
• Tricia Fairweather
• Vikki Gibson
• Kimberley Murray
• Matthew Smith
• Yang yu Xuan
• Lemon Zhai
• Qing Zhao

Exhibiting Student Artist:

• Merlin Chintapalli
• Shirley H.
• Violetta H.

The exhibition is running at the Arts Collective, Suzhou, for six weeks between 26th March and 8th May.

Please SCAN the QR code to follow the Suzhou Arts Collective’s Official WeChat Account. This includes full details about the exhibition, as well as the Gallery Opening Hours and its location details, including a Pin.

While some of the Artwork sold on the opening night, many paintings are still available to purchase. You can also buy signed limited edition prints of some of the works. The Suzhou Arts Collective Gallery provides a very welcoming environment. They would like nothing more than for as many people to come and see the exhibition as possible. Please stop by and have a browse around the next time you are in that area of Suzhou. It is a lovely way to spend some time.

Monday - Wednesday 3 pm - 9 pm
Thursday - Friday 3 pm - 7 pm
Saturday 3 pm – 7 pm
Sunday Closed

Please book an appointment, as Classes may be taking place that prevents access to some rooms in the gallery.