Wigan artist's work on display at solo exhibition

The show covers almost two decades of Jane’s work since she played a leading role in establishing the studios at Cross Street Arts in Standish.

The exhibition contains paintings, drawings, textiles, mixed media and installations while looking at subjects including critiques of capitalism, environmental concerns and why women have been left out of the human story.

Jane, who has only just finished the most recent pieces in the exhibition, says it is nice to see so much of her work on display and note the changes in her style. She said: “A lot of these works have been in storage and boxed up for a few years so it’s nice to see it all out.

“It looks really fresh too. It’s work from about 2004 to the last few weeks. I wanted to put my latest stuff in because it’s quite a change in direction from what I have been doing before.

“It focuses more on painting and surface. I’ve always worked with a narrative, which could be about feminism, politics, the state of the world, the environment.

“This work is still about the environment because I’m using pieces of plastic I find on my walks and it’s about the amount of plastic that is lying around, but I make it unrecognisable.”

The exhibition runs until at least the end of January and people are able to visit as St Helens is in Tier 2 of the Covid-19 restrictions.

The pandemic does mean there will not be a formal opening but the gallery is big enough for people to walk round and remain socially distanced without having to book in advance or turn up at a certain time.

Jane says World of Glass still hopes to have an event celebrating her work at some point while the exhibition is running.

Lockdown has had a massive impact on the arts but Jane has been busy working with nine other artists on a regional project funded by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

The artists put on a virtual exhibition on Instagram in September and then teamed up with younger creative talents in association with Castlefield Gallery in Manchester for an online show.

For more on In Series visit www.worldofglass.com