Light and Land

Juliet Klottrup

In association with Kendal Mountain Festival

8 November to 9 December 2023

The interplay of ‘Light and Land’ come to life through the captivating new photographic and painting exhibition of local Artist Juliet Klottrup.

Juliet records her time immersed in the region, capturing its essence through a blend of landscapes, portraiture, and abstract compositions.

These images portray not only the raw rural landscapes but also the people Juliet has encountered during her extensive explorations of the area, individuals who inhabit and intimately connect with the land.

The photographic images are meticulously captured on an analogue film camera, preserving a contemporary archive through medium format film.

This collection serves as a living record, capturing a distinct moment in our ever-evolving social and environmental history.
In the transition from photographic negatives to paintings, Juliet references the landscapes responding to the lingering sensory experiences of these environments. Translating them into abstraction Infusing her canvases with colour, light and movement.

“Light and Land” beautifully explores the relationship between the raw natural world and the human connections it inspires.

About the artist

Juliet Klottrup is an award winning Visual Artist combining Photography, Filmmaking and Painting.

Working across the North of England using the camera to engage and record social commentary by blending still and motion image making on analogue mediums. Juliet uses her painting practice to play with ambiguity and express feelings, sometimes dreams.

Juliet is a visiting lecturer at The University of Cumbria and an Honorary Research Fellow with the BA Photography Course.

Fully immersed in the North West with local communities, capturing a raw modern archive of belonging and identity within the region. As a result of Covid, she witnessed its damaging affects on the region; on our collective strength and fragility; from front line NHS workers and Farmers to Travellers. Portraits from this time were exhibited alongside Grayson Perry at Blackwell The Arts & Craft House for the exhibition ‘Class, Covid and Cumbria’ (2022).

Her ongoing body of work ‘Youth of the Rural North’ (2019 – ) documents growing up in rural Britain through intimate portraits. In 2020 one of the images was awarded Portrait of Britain by the British Journal of Photography and another was shortlisted for The Portrait of Humanity award. In 2021 the accompanying film was exhibited widely and nominated for ‘Best Documentary’ with the British Film Awards. In 2023 it was the winner of The People’s vote at Manchester’s HOME Filmed Up event.

After being appointed a Research Fellow at the University of Cumbria with the institute of Science and Environment (2022). Her work ‘Moss of Many Layers’ a film and photographic documentary delves into the political and social significance of Bolton Fell Moss, a former industrial peat extraction site, now a recovering peat bog in Carlisle. This was a cross sector collaborative project between the local community, Natural England and Nerc.

In June 2023 Juliet was nominated as a Yarns a finalist with Stitch Editing and Homespun, a program that supports emerging directors to create their own short film with industry support and partnership from KODAK.

Within Juliet’s painting practise her work has been exhibited nationwide and she was recently awarded as a Winner of the Beaverton Creatives Untapped Award (August 2023) celebrating up and coming contemporary artists.

All images copyright the artist.