Rebecca Ainscough has been announced as St Mary in the Castle’s first Artist in Residence and her exhibition opens on Friday.

The exhibition Rhythm, Ritual, Rite of Passage will be on show in the Crypt Gallery until August 16th.

“We’re so excited to have Rebecca as our first Artist in Residence,” Lead Curator, Thom Kofoed says, “as soon as we met I knew she was the perfect person to help us relaunch our Crypt Gallery as a dynamic exhibition space.”

Rebecca will be working in the space in the lead up to the exhibition creating a brand-new piece of work that will become part of the St Mary in the Castle’s permanent collection, Thom explains: “St Mary’s has such a rich and varied history and we’re intrigued to see how Rebecca will translate this in her work. It felt like an excellent opportunity to work with somebody who loves this venue as much as we do to see how they perceive the building, and the work will be an amazing addition to our new collection.”

Rebecca said: “I’m so excited to get started. I’ll be creating direct visual responses to the sounds I hear and the atmosphere these sounds create in the Crypt Gallery. Through drawing and painting these visual equivalents will document the sounds inhabiting this deconsecrated space, reflecting the contemporary life of this historical building.”

Rebecca’s new role will include artist talks open to the public in both the Crypt Gallery and the auditorium, as well as a series of workshops in which those taking part will explore how music and sound can be translated into visual art.

About her exhibition as a whole Rebecca says: “The drawings, paintings, photographs and film in this exhibition are based upon my experiences living in Italy, Yemen, Turkey, India and West Africa. The images are visual representations of site specific sounds listened to and lived with in each location where they are a natural part of the rhythm of everyday life. The Angelus bell, the Temple chants, the Call to Prayer and the drum.”

Rebecca’s exhibition will be followed by a photographic exhibit by local photographer James Bloomfield which will run from mid-September for five weeks. The exhibition will feature works exploring the photographer’s fascination with steps and staircases.