Syria inspires exhibition

Tring artist Sheila de Rosa’s participation in Bucks Open Studios this year (11-26 June) is a profoundly personal view of the conflict in Syria. Her exhibition Spent, displayed in the corridors of the Akeman Business Park in Tring, uses spent matches to represent the nearly 2,000 days since the beginning of the Syrian uprising in 2011 and the number of lives lost. A proportion of the proceeds of the exhibition will go to Médécins Sans Frontières in Syria.

‘Safety matches burn at a rate of around 30cm per hour,’ said Sheila. ‘At what rate do the displaced people of Syria deteriorate and lose hope? Some matches stand upright, others have fallen over or are scarred and others are at the point of disintegration. The finished works signify the beauty of the human spirit when pushed to its limit.’

Sheila’s studio is open over the next two weekends, 17-20 June and 24-26 June, 10.30am-4.30pm (1-5pm on Sundays). Her website is sheiladerosa.co.uk.