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Tracy Chevalier joins forces with charity to help prisoners build their self-esteem and hope “It was a challenge. I had just joined Fine Cell Work. Caroline, the volunteer teacher, asked me to do a square for the quilt and explained what it was about. She said what do you guys dream about when in prison. I said to be honest I don’t dream any more. I haven’t dreamed for years. To me prison is all about madness and chaos and tattoos. Caroline saw my tattoos and said we haven’t got one of those on the quilt. To me tattoos and people are very similar. It tells a story of a time and a place, it’s a permanent marker. It’s like me on this earth. ” – Prisoner partaking in the Sleep Quilt project “Prisoners may initially agree to work with Fine Cell Work because they will be paid, but most of them get far more out of the experience than money … Many inmates suffer from low self-esteem. They have never made anything constructive or beautiful before, and have never been praised. Doing so is like...

Black Eye Gallery is pleased to announce the September 2017 exhibition: WABI- SABI by Damien Drew. The Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi is an appreciation of a transient and understated  beauty in the modest, imperfect, ephemeral or decayed. Drew’s exhibition expresses this  notion through his perspective of modern day Japan. Japan has one of the world’s largest economies and a population that is shrinking due to  low birthrates. With employment opportunities predominantly found in large urban centres  there has been a marked decline in rural regions. Drew’s images seek to document that which  is temporary and to celebrate its beauty in turn. The viewer is invited to consider details  and qualities in paired scenes that may be inconspicuous, congruent or contrasting. In a  world that is increasingly homogenised through global retail chains, Drew carefully observes the melancholy beauty of the many towns and villages that have now become neglected. “We ...