'Art on Conflict'

The Artists in Woodstock collaborated with the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum to create an exhibition around a theme: conflict.

Rosalind Butt, one of the organising committee, said “We are excited to show personal, moving, and poignant art work related to war, ranging from pieces inspired by the far ranging repercussions of conflict on civilians such as impact on women fleeing war zones, such as Iraq, the impact on trade and the weaponisation of language. Artists within the group have drawn influence from celebrated established poets such as Wilfred Owen, their own inner conflict with health diagnoses, reflecting on the current conflicts across the globe and from paraphernalia and imagery associated with war”.

The exhibition showed a diverse range of art including work by Rana Ibrahim, the founder of Iraqi women art and war (IWAW); renowned watercolour artist Rod Craig; poet and photographer Rosalind Butt, collage artist Jane Smith. 

Rana Ibrahim “As a collage artist and founder/director of the Iraqi Women Art and War (IWAW) I explore themes of identity, memory, and displacement in Iraq from 2003 to 2024. My work reflects the stories of the younger generation of Iraqis, particularly those who protested against the corrupt regime in 2018, and the impact of conflict on their lives.”

Rod Craig “This was challenging for me as it was for many of the artists in the group – most of my recent work has been landscape based. By way of contrast for this exhibition I have produced five new pieces largely focussed on the divisions of people and of nations brought about by fear and prejudice.” 

Jane Greer “Whilst preparing for this exhibition I became increasingly aware of the role of language in creating and resolving conflict. For me growing up bilingual there was always a conflict between my mother tongue Welsh and my father tongue English. My maternal grandmother had been punished at school for speaking Welsh - a weapon used throughout the world to subjugate and attempt to destroy an indigenous culture. After the holocaust the German philosopher Adorno said that all art was barbaric but ironically art in the form of images, words and music will survive us all and perhaps help future generations understand us more than we understand ourselves and make sense of our inherent paradoxes.”

Jane Topliss, who is more familiar with making functional ceramics, found this a really interesting challenge which pushed her in a new creative direction. Her work ‘Battle Lines Redrawn’ commemorated the selflessness and resilience of not only the men who fought on them, but also Mother Nature who is forever trying to heal the wounds of conflict. 

Caroline Parkes loves painting vibrant fashion inspired images, so fused her style to this theme. One portrait featured Mary Ellis, an Oxfordshire born pilot who flew over 2000 planes in WW2. Another, was inspired by a Cecil Beaton portrait of a female welder. And one featured a quote from Winston Churchill: “It’s not France we’re fighting for, it’s champagne”…. he was famously fond of fizz.

The exhibition also features work by charity Standing with Giants. Dan Barton is the brother of our member Jules Barton, and created life-size metal figures of WW2 figures.