Set within the main gallery of The Biscuit Factory, The Corner Gallery offers an alternative collection of work alongside our regular programme.

This exhibition explores - among other things - the inter-related worlds of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest and the ancient fertility myths associated with Persephone, Queen of the Underworld. It does so through a series of landscapes, collages and three-dimensional dioramas.

"I describe myself as a Surrealist but my work also contains many contemporary ideas, often drawing visual inspiration directly from the steep valleys and forests of the Montaign Noir, in the south-west corner of France where I now live and work. For me Nature is not merely beautiful but often patently malevolent.

In remote forests and mountains lurk strange creatures, dating back perhaps to pagan times. The myths of ancient Greece are a shadowy reflection of these dark forces. I try to capture some of this in my work, even in ‘conventional’ landscapes. A central feature of this exhibition is the three-dimensional dioramas. These derive in part from my experience in the theatre as a former director and stage designer and partly from childhood memories.

As a child I often spent my summer holidays with my grandparents in Weymouth. I loved the penny arcades. One in particular caught my eye. It consisted of a little bedroom with an old man lying in bed.When you put your penny in the brass slot the old man suddenly sat bolt upright, terrified as wooden ghosts popped out from doors and cupboards all around him.

That little scene, in all its drama, not only determined my subsequent career in the theatre but has inspired my art ever since."

Mike Healey 2011

To view Mike's complete collection of work click here

Also, check out Mike's blog here