This March, we welcomed our first Artist in Residence, Yambe Tam, to stay at The Art Depot. While there have been Chrysalis Arts Development residencies for projects before, this is the first one housed in The Art Depot in Gargrave.

The Art Depot has been the home to Chrysalis Arts for over twenty years. An award-winning building, Yambe described it ‘as everything I could possibly need’, remarking especially on how wonderful the light is.

This first portion of the residency has been about Yambe exploring the surrounding area and thinking about what she would like to create.

Early in her ten day stay in Gargrave, Yambe met with local Ecologist Mark Hewitt. Mark’s expertise in ecology has been hugely helpful to Chrysalis Arts. This past year he has been guiding and providing information to artists at our recently leased Marton Wood.

Yambe and Mark walked and explored the Malham area in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The night before their visit, the Dales received snow. Yambe described the visit as witnessing something special. They visited both Malham Cove and the waterfall Janet’s Foss, discussing the ecology of the park, the local farming industry and how it exists in relationship to the local wilderness.

Following her walk with Mark, Yambe has been walking the area further and exploring ideas and concepts for what she will create. She’ll now return to her own studio and develop these ideas further. Yambe will return for a second visit to the area later in the Spring or early Summer to see how the landscape has changed.

We look forward to seeing more of Yambe’s process and project.

All photos credit to Yambe Tam.