NATASHA PEARL’s gallery in Bekesbourne, Kent, is a stone’s throw from the site of a former palace of the Archbishop of Canterbury, built by Thomas Cranmer in 1552 and enlarged by Archbishop Matthew Parker in the late 16th century. It was demolished during the Civil War, and now only the Gatehouse remains, but the historic spiritual connection lives on in the road name, Old Palace Road.
The artist sees her current exhibition, “Sanctuary of Light”, as a turning point in a life that has encompassed terminal illness-caring responsibilities, relationship breakdown, and providing support for addiction issues. Now is a golden time, after experiencing some dark places. “I feel like my life is miraculous.”
The inspiration for “Sanctuary of Light” came when a local botanical artist brought a collection of brass rubbings to Ms Pearl’s gallery, wondering whether she could use them before they were thrown out. Before the rubbings’ arrival, Ms Pearl had been on the brink of abandoning art to focus solely on running a framing business from her Bekesbourne Studio. She bought the framing business in 2023, after a period of “living on beans” financial hardship. “They were trying times, and I felt like I had no option but to give up art and work as a picture-framer.”
Natasha Pearl GalleryTurquoise Madonna by Natasha Pearl
Now it is operating as a gallery, framing shop, and Ms Pearl’s studio, and our viewing is regularly paused for the artist to respond to customers looking around and wanting to chat. With a soundtrack chosen to feel akin “to a wonderful forest bath”, the artist says: “I know it’s just a framing shop, but I want people to feel better when they leave.” Displaying the “Sanctuary of Light” series, she continues, created “a change of atmosphere from when it was just a framing shop”.
Describing the series as “contemporary icons that change the atmosphere wherever they are: they don’t just sit there”, the artist has placed the works in deep, box-like frames, to parallel the presentation of relics.
The archival brass rubbings are the foundation of the series. Their wax-crayon surface resisted Ms Pearl’s initial attempts to control the layers of colour which she added; so she worked intuitively, letting the nature of the material decide the final outcome. The result is akin to a gilded icon, as a sacred figure is partly obscured by a jewel-bright layer forming unpredictable traces between the subject and the viewer. The combination of bright surface layers with golden-tinged figure beneath brings to mind Byzantine art.
Advised by her mother not to go to train formally at art school, “because then you will never paint another painting in your life”, Ms Pearl points to Gustav Klimt as an influence. In Turquoise Madonna, an outlined sacred figure is elevated through embellishment in layers of blue and an intricately tooled golden halo. In Divine Masculine, the central figure is surrounded by dark blue, in the manner of an effigy, with a sea or reds and pinks washing towards the frame. The accompanying verse from Genesis reads: “So God created man in His own image . . . in the image of God created him.”
Having previously attended St Andrew’s, Fulking, in East Sussex, Ms Peal says that being part of its community had a massive impact. “All three children were baptised there, and the children still have it in them.”
Natasha Pearl GalleryDivine Masculine by Natasha Pearl
Now Canterbury Cathedral, which is near by, draws the artist, and she also feels spiritually connected to the church near her studio. “You could say I attend church daily, as I put my hands on the church at six in the morning when I’m walking the dog. This allows Christ’s consciousness to come through. I feel it at the top of my head.”
Reflecting on her “Sanctuary of Light” series, Ms Pearl concludes: “I feel like I didn’t make them, as if something was guiding me — so I can big them up.”
“Sanctuary of Light” is at Natasha Pearl Gallery, Chalkpit Farm, Adisham Road, Bekesbourne, Kent, until 31 July. Phone 01227 831011. www.natashapearlgallery.co.uk