'Poema' A series of panels inspired by Jesus's words from the cross   by James Hammond   (Mixed media on aluminium)   4th to 23rd April 2003   Open from 12 noon to 2 pm, Monday to Friday (closed on Good Friday and Easter Monday)   Admission Free

Wallace James Hammond, BA Hons

James is a Graphic Designer and Illustrator whose work has been widely published by, among others, Kingsway and Harper-Collins. In 1998 he went back to school and by 2002 had completed a degree in Fine Art at the University of Brighton. His work has mainly been on show in the Eastbourne and Brighton area. He believes the joyful collaboration with his wife, Liz, has produced his best work, namely their four lively children, Jo, Jon, Chloe and Lydia - not forgetting grandson, Reuben.

James says about his artwork, 'I want to share a secret and cheer people up with a story. Indeed, to tell something of the big story. I am wrestling with how to approach this retelling in an age where the common language and understanding that came from a common belief and knowledge has largely been lost.

'Lately I've been asking myself if abstract painting is the right medium for me to use and whether it obscures the story I want to tell. Is it enough for me to paint, and trust that what is in my heart will come through? Am I really, truly, honestly prepared to let the viewer make their own interpretation of the work? Can I accept that they will anyway? I see no value in making art that hands it all over on a plate but neither do I want to sell the story short. Mind you, the person I want to talk about in my paintings often told parables and didn't explain their meaning. Neither was He afraid to give the wrong impression about Himself. Am I trying to give God a reference that He doesn't need?

'I want to make art that is healing and uplifting: that gives comfort like Van Gogh; soothes like Matisse; jolts like Bacon. (My reach definitely exceeding my grasp!) I have had enough of the obsession with irony in contemporary art. Apart from being deeply shallow, it seems to me to have become little more than a perverse defence against anything of real value. However unfashionable it might be, I intend to keep digging for the 'sunrise of wonder' that Chesterton talks about, and to go on telling the beautiful story of our loving God and His Son, Jesus, who came to find us when we were far away.

'This work, Poema, is the beginning of a new direction for me.'

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