Evolver 149

Headlines 5 Beyond Words In a celebration of Dorset and the artists who thrive in the county, Beyond Words brings the brilliance of ALEX LOWERY’s paintings together with the quiet beauty of YO THOM’s latest pottery and the lean, lovely lines of PETTER SOUTHALL’s furniture to the galleries at Sladers Yard. Alex Lowery’s stunning new paintings of Portland and West Bay return to familiar places with new eyes. Looking over rooftops towards the sweeping coastline of Lyme Bay and the sea, with Portland misty in the distance, our eyes are drawn to planes of colour and light. Unpeopled, but full of the evidence of people, these paintings hold our attention in play. They take the eye around and through the image, from foreground to background, from rough foliage and the angled surfaces of buildings to luminous seas and sky, from the contemporary to the timeless and from the concrete to the in fi nite. Moving back and forth in the space between naturalism and abstraction, Alex Lowery’s paintings seduce us with texture and light. Whether it is the cliffs of West Bay and the rooftops around Pier Terrace, the road that rides the ridge of Portland or indeed L’Estaque near Marseille, he fi nds the beauty in light on tarmac, in corrugated iron and chimney pots in these seaside places. His compositions lead us through a ALEX LOWERY ‘WEST BAY 327’ (Oil on canvas, 50 x 110 cm, 2026) nexus of buildings whose details may be more or less abstracted. Ways through down to the beach are implied. Buildings may or may not look back at us through their windows. Unusual colours may be more accurate than we have noticed. Sometimes it takes looking at an Alex Lowery painting to realise how things really look. Yo Thom’s most recent studio pottery introduces new forms and designs. In addition to the very popular small and tender domestic pots that have made her name, she has been working on larger pieces which still retain her gentle aesthetic. The results are gorgeous platters, vases and tsubos, decorated in the enchanting sgraf fi to patterns she has developed inspired by the folding Dorset landscape. Yo Thom’s pieces interpret her beautiful rural surroundings in a style inspired by patchwork-style recycled Japanese folk textiles called ‘boro’. Yo works in stoneware which is thrown, slabbed, coiled and pinched. Her distinctive soft-looking fi nishes are created using sgraf fi to techniques on an indigo slip partially covered with white glaze. Her pieces are functional and made to enhance food culture. Petter Southall responds to superb natural timber with furniture designs that combine an exciting fl uidity of line with tactile textures and physical strength. Satisfying, practical and original, his furniture is enhanced with understated and brilliantly judged detailing. Using a combination of boat-building and fi ne cabinetmaking techniques his work is built to last and to age beautifully. He uses ethically sourced timber and natural fi nishes, with an emphasis on harmony with the human body. Through skilful joinery and the use of mostly solid timber he avoids reliance on glues and composites which may not stand the test of time and can produce emissions. Subscribe to Evolver Magazine at evolver.org.uk YO THOM ‘SMALL WALLED DISHES’ 9 May - 4 July: Sladers Yard, WEST BAY, Bridport, DT6 4EL. Wednesday - Saturday 10am - 4.30pm. 01308 459511 / sladersyard.co.uk . *EVOLVER_149_SB.qxp_Evolver_2025 14/04/2026 20:07 Page 5