Last year, we launched a brilliant new Artists Residence programme in partnership with CultureDale. As part of Calderdale’s Year of Culture, we collaborated with various venues across Calderdale, where local artists took up residencies to develop new work and expand their practice and connect with local communities. Sally Barker explored the unseen in the natural world at Ogden Water Nature Reserve. Nikta Mohammadi, based at King Cross Library, has been diving into stories and folklore related to the wind, taking inspiration from Top Withen in Haworth. Rachael Elwell delved into the world of watercolour, drawing inspiration from Rhydings Park at The Smith Art Gallery in Elland. David Chatton Barker has just begun his residency at the Folklore Centre and will be visually reinterpreting the sites and folklore of Todmorden and its surrounding areas in the form of a map.
To celebrate this programme, we are bringing all the artists together in the gallery for a Residencies Showcase, offering the community an opportunity to see what each artist has been working on.
Join us on 8th March 1-4pm to hear from the artists themselves in our Showcase Celebration event.
Wednesday 5th March - Saturday 15th March 2025
The gallery is open Wednesday to Saturday, 1pm - 4pm.
Sally Barker works with sculpture, installation, ceramics, printing, video, and the occasional performance. Her interests focus on power, control and damage across the distinct but connected areas of feminism and the environment. These themes are expressed through a strong emphasis on materials and process, often involving breaking down and de-construction.
David Chatton Barker
David Chatton Barker’s work explores the intersection of visual art, sound and performance, drawing
inspiration from British folklore and its deep-rooted connection to the landscape. Through
publications, posters, bespoke vinyl records and tape releases, he creates immersive, tactile
experiences that invite listeners into a world where visual art, sound and storytelling meet.
Each work incorporates handcrafted elements
Nikta Mohammadi is an Iranian artist, filmmaker and producer based in Northern England, working across moving image, sound, performance and text. Her practice is rooted in her dreams. It examines the relationship between personal and political, outside and inside, private and public, documentary and fiction.
Rachael Elwell is a visual artist with a passion for creating contemporary abstract paintings and drawings. Her artwork is inspired by the stunning colour palettes from the local landscape, and intricate natural markings and patterns that she discovers in the environments she immerses herself in for visual research. The paintings and drawings she creates are site-specific, a celebration of a place and time that is greatly influenced by the changing seasons and the beauty of the natural environment.
