Not everyone equates city living with places of retreat, relaxation, space or emotional well-being. But if you adjust your pre-conceptions and carefully examine your surroundings then slowly, like eyes adjusting from light to dark, the secret 'breathing' places of the city emerge from concrete shadows. Perhaps there is a favourite corner on your street with shrubs and sprawling undergrowth that connects with you as you pass. A window box you tend, weeding, planting and watering. Or even the sense of enjoyment you experience walking through your local park which soothes you and brings a sense of humanity to your life. A connection between you, the city dweller, and the natural world. These are the private breathing spaces which form the inspiration for this new exhibition from the italian artist and London resident, Irma Irsara. Irma believes that even in large, dense cities you can find private micro-spaces of retreat where none obviously exists.

               Originally from the mountainous and expansive Dolomite region in the Italian Alps, Irma has lived in this highly populated city for over twenty years. From her childhood experience of living high up among the mountains, Irma developed a sense of space, lofty perspective and distant horizons. As a student she first encountered the 16th century painting, 'Citta Ideale' (The Ideal City) in Urbino which echoed this powerful sense of space and dramatic perspective but in a man-made location. Its theme of an ideal city, one which balances space and structure, fabric and colour is also the central theme of this exhibition.

               An avid allotment gardener, Irma's works are full of references to her personal world. The vegetables she sows and tends in her north London allotment appear, not as simple adornments, but are used in the very fabric of her work. Irma incorporates their seeds, cuttings and dyes in her paper pulp artworks. Fragments of onion, rhubarb, nettle, artichoke are mashed into the paper, affecting the texture, colour and fabric. This texture and content practically demands a physical response, you want to touch and feel the work.

               Gifted with a delicious sense of colour, Irma balances rich tones of bloody reds with luscious yellows and pure blues so that they vibrate and sing. Colours are used so that they create space and energy. Each piece of work becomes a place of contemplation. The complexity of the creative process of Irma's paper pulp art has developed over the years. This latest exhibition has some of the most exciting, confident and sensuous work she has produced to date.

               In addition to the paper pulp works this exhibition presents a supporting video work in three parts where the multi-layered life of the city is explored. Hard, man-made shapes and materials are juxtapositioned against organic, natural forms. Everyday activities become blurs of light and sound.

               Irma also exhibits her on-going project of bookworks. Each bookwork can be viewed as a 'personal sketchbook' with an individual concept that is thoroughly developed. Often this calls for new technical skills to be acquired by the artist so she can attain her desired goal. A fascinating and rare insight into the workings of an artist's creative process.