A community arts organisation in Newquay is staging an exhibition to showcase works by two talented Cornwall based artists.

ALMA Artspace in Wesley Yard is organising Anchorhold between May 16 and June 16, which brings together existing works and new pieces by Rachael Coward and Melanie Stidolph.

Inspired by the idea of the Anchorhold, a small, enclosed cell or dwelling, usually attached to a church, used by medieval Christian anchorites, or recluses, to live in isolation, together, they create an installation for ALMA that embodies the “sanctity of the studio, aligning it with the religious space of the Anchorhold.”

These spaces of voluntary enclosure sat adjunct to places of worship, inhabited by an Anchorite or Anchoress with limited sightlines to the outside world.

Coward’s fragile works reference the practical hardware of the shoreline, shifting between utilitarian and symbolic offerings.

These delicate ceramic pieces sit alongside the slippery draping of Stidolph’s printed fabrics, depicting characters in communion with the rocky edges of Cornwall’s coast.

Rachael is based in Carnon Downs.

She studied fine art at Falmouth University. Recent projects include ‘Something Lost, Something Found.’

Her first solo exhibition at Heseltine Gallery in Truro. She currently holds the position of Artist In Residence at Truro School.

Melanie works from Porthmeor Studios in St Ives.

Her work gained recognition for its attention to understated subjects: poised between the staged and documentary traditions of photography.

Her work has been featured by The Photographers’ Gallery in 2022, The Guardian in 2023 and has also presented in solo and group shows.

The Anchorhold exhibition is accompanied by a Stone Walk printmaking workshop with Rachael Coward on Saturday, June 6 between 11am and 1pm.

An artist talk and a question and answer led by curator and author Hettie Judah will be held on Tuesday, June 16 from 6pm to 8pm.