An exhibition of pictures by Hilary Stock, a local fine art photographer, will be showing in November at the White Horse Gallery in Marlborough. ‘From Wiltshire Woods to the Cornish Coast’ will include a range of new work that celebrates Savernake Forest and Westwoods, as well showcasing Hilary’s well known Cornish pictures.
“There is something mesmerising about the stillness of the Savernake,” Hilary says. “It feels like a privilege to wander amongst the trees, as if I’m glimpsing a world unknown.”
A number of Hilary’s photographs have an ethereal, three-dimensional quality to them, drawing the viewer into the woods. Hilary works closely with her framers, Ed and Alex Frewen of Devizes, and together they have created a unique format in which some of the trees appear to emerge from the print: “I want people to feel that experience of going into the woods.”
Hilary has also spent many years photographing the Cornish coast, most recently the Roseland Peninsula: “My mother and grandmother lived in the beautiful village of Mousehole, in Cornwall. Growing up with that connection to a place, the county became the first and deepest source of inspiration for my artwork.”
Her work is exhibited at the Harbour Gallery in Portscatho and has been bought by private collectors around the world: “Being represented by the Harbour Gallery, on the Roseland Peninsula gives me the perfect excuse to indulge my love of all things Cornish.”
Last summer, she had a number of pop-up exhibitions in Cornwall, where there was considerable interest in her Wiltshire work as well as her Cornish pictures, which often feature grids of nine, hand-folded images: “I think there are many surprisingly strong connections between the two counties.”
Hilary, who lives just outside Marlborough, has recently taught photography to a group of teenagers and taken them to The Gambia with the new local charity Thriving Through Venture. They were based in Gunjur, which is twinned with Marlborough. An exhibition of the teenagers’ pictures will run at the White Horse Gallery in December.
‘From Wiltshire woods to the Cornish Coast’ is at the White Horse Gallery throughout November – details about the exhibition and more images are at hilarystock.co.uk [Click on images to enlarge them.]