LOUISE BLYTON
WHEN AFTERNOON COMES

September 11th – October 3rd, 2026

In When Afternoon Comes, Louise Blyton turns her attention to the quiet movement of light through the everyday interior. Her new body of work explores the subtle relationship between light, colour, form and space, drawing from the recurring yet ever-changing moments when afternoon light enters the home and transforms the familiar.

Blyton’s handcrafted works occupy a space between painting and sculpture. Constructed from shaped wooden forms and carefully covered with linen, each work is built through a meticulous process in which the linen is cut and applied by hand, minimising folds and seams to create a restrained, refined surface. Multiple layers of acrylic paint are then applied directly to the untreated linen, allowing colour to emerge with clarity and presence. Through this reductive approach, Blyton removes the superfluous, allowing the material, colour and form to carry the work.

The resulting works are objects of both structure and atmosphere. Their forms extend beyond the conventions of the painted surface, while their restrained palettes and tactile linen surfaces remain closely connected to painting. Light moves across their surfaces, revealing subtle shifts between colour, texture and shadow. As the conditions of the surrounding space change, so too does the experience of the work.

The inspiration for When Afternoon Comes comes from Blyton’s daily observation of light as it moves through her home. Each afternoon, light drifts across walls, floors and furniture, briefly altering the character of familiar spaces before disappearing. Although this rhythm repeats, it is never quite the same. The changing seasons, weather and angle of the sun continually transform these fleeting encounters.

Rather than attempting to capture a particular moment, Blyton’s works remain close to the experience of noticing. Their quiet geometry, considered surfaces and subtle interplay of light and shadow invite a slower form of looking, where perception becomes attuned to small changes and familiar things are encountered anew.

In When Afternoon Comes, Blyton finds significance in the ordinary and the ephemeral. Her works suggest that enchantment need not reside in the extraordinary, but can emerge through sustained attention—to light as it shifts, colour as it changes, and the quiet presence of an object within a space. Through the transformation of raw materials into carefully resolved forms, Blyton creates works that hold a sense of harmony, stillness and levity, offering a space in which looking can slow and attention can deepen.