Far from being the black sheep of the seasons, winter is a period of extraordinary depth and beauty. While the brilliance of summer heightens colour and light intensity, it also tends to blitz the subtle nuances of atmosphere in its glare. But as the veil of winter descends these rich tonalities re-emerge.

It is difficult to assess the atmospheric conditions of winter without also being alert to the powerful psychological qualities that it arouses. It is no accident that the chill of the season stirs the souls of poets; we think of the romantics Keats and Shelley, and of Emily Dickinson who wrote of the ‘certain Slant of light’ on winter afternoons ‘That oppresses, like the Heft / of Cathedral Tunes—and When it comes—, the Landscape listens / Shadows—hold their breath / When it goes, ‘tis like the Distance / On the look of Death—’.

Winter stirs our visual artists as well—the creators of ‘listening landscapes’—whose works draw inspiration from the wells of its solemn darkness. These artists occupy the opposite end of the seasonal spectrum to the impressionists of summer; their objective is not to record the fleeting effects of natural light but the darkness and tremors attendant to thunder and gloom. They quietly illuminate the spiritual and nostalgic dimensions of winter, often as a place that can only be visited in our dreams.

Each artist in Winter, in their own way, connects the senses to the soul. Retreating from the elements to explore internal spaces within, they find warmth in the wonders that lie there in wait.

In Elsewhere World, Raymond Arnold finds a hearth from the seasonal chill, where the sounds of nature are in muted slumber. This evocative image envelopes us within its spectral spell, making us feel rather than see the strange energies that emerge at this time of year. Something of this energy also inhabits the ceramics of Gail Nichols and Hiroe Swen.

In his large photographic print From Stefan Weisz for Georg Weisz #1, Stephen Wickham, as his alter ego ‘Stefan Weisz’ (or ‘White’), presents a dedication to his deceased uncle, originally from Vienna. The snow-covered landscape—photographed at Mt Buffalo National Park—evokes the grave winter vistas of Europe, in a mournful elegy to loss and nostalgia. For Chris Langlois, in his work Waterfield, no.2, the droplets of rainwater on glass are a means to creating a new landscape; a constellation of micro-worlds that are both real and un-real.

A multitude of further works ranging from the dark and psychological, to the whimsical and the observational, prove that, far from being a period of coldness and desolation, winter is a time of reflection and renewal.

Within its depths we feel closer to nature and the cycle of life, and we are reminded of the preciousness of all that we hold dear. A feature of Winter will be the return of Allerleirauh by Klara Jones (coinciding with her solo exhibition in Gallery 4), as well as a major installation work by Kathy Luxford-Carr and a gathering of new works from the artists from ‘Overcoming Obstacles’.