A NEW gallery has opened on Main Street in Pembroke, and it has the mayor’s seal of approval!

The gallery, which displays Isobel Kidd’s sculptures, metal wall installations, wax drawings and prints, offers visitors an insight into the depth and range of her practice.

Separated from the adjoining studio by a glass wall, the space allows viewers to safely observe the artist at work.

“As Mayor of Pembroke and County Councillor for Main Street, it was an absolute pleasure to be invited along on Saturday for the opening of the Isobel Kidd Gallery,” posted Cllr Jonathan Grimes following the September 5 opening.

“Isobel’s stunning new gallery showcases the incredible breadth of her work - from sculptures and metal wall installations to wax drawings and prints. There really is something fascinating around every corner.

“And one of the things I particularly love about the gallery is the glass wall separating it from the adjoining studio, giving visitors the opportunity to safely see the artist at work and creating.

“It was fantastic to meet Isobel, see her work first-hand and celebrate the opening of another exciting new venture right here in the heart of Pembroke.”

Graduating from the Dyfed College of Art, Birmingham Polytechnic and Chelsea School of Art, Isobel Kidd has taught fine art at Emanuel School, London, Bradfield College and Marlborough College.

Kidd has staged many exhibitions throughout the UK and Europe, beginning work on the Main Street premises in 2025. Most recently, readers may have admired her installation of Sea Eggs at Stackpole Walled Gardens throughout August.

As part of her ‘Forms of the Living Coast’ project, Isobel Kidd created a ‘Sea Egg’ installation at Stackpole Walled Garden which was on display during August.
As part of her ‘Forms of the Living Coast’ project, Isobel Kidd created a ‘Sea Egg’ installation at Stackpole Walled Garden which was on display during August. (Isobel Kidd)

She opens her new gallery with an exhibition called ‘Forms of the Living Coast’.

Through sculpture, painting and installation, the September exhibition presents a body of work in which the Pembrokeshire coastline becomes not simply a subject, but a material and conceptual territory.

Isobel Kidd draws upon geology, marine organisms, microscopic structures, weathered surfaces and the accumulated histories of the Welsh coast. Forms discovered at an almost invisible scale are enlarged and transformed into objects of unexpected monumentality, while familiar materials are altered until their origins become uncertain.

Across the exhibition there is a persistent tension between the ancient and the contemporary, the fragile and the enduring, the organic and the monumental. Kidd’s sculptures resist literal representation. Instead, they appear as fragments of an unfamiliar archaeology – objects that might have been excavated, washed ashore, or formed through processes considerably older than ourselves.

At its heart, Forms of the Living Coast is an exhibition about looking, about making visible the structures, rhythms and transformations that ordinarily remain unseen.

The collection can be viewed until September 30. Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm and 10am to 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

The gallery is fully accessible. Children are welcome, but the gallery requests that they remain supervised and respectful of the artist’s workspace and concentration.

The mayor added: “Congratulations, Isobel, on a fantastic collection — and a very warm welcome to Pembroke Main Street!”

“It’s great to see new businesses investing in our town and bringing something fresh, creative and unique to Pembroke. Here’s to many successful years ahead!”

Mayor of Pembroke Cllr Jonathan Grimes with Deputy Mayor Cllr Deborah Willcocks and Welsh sculptor Isobel Kidd, at the opening of her new gallery in Pembroke
Mayor of Pembroke Cllr Jonathan Grimes with Deputy Mayor Cllr Deborah Willcocks and Welsh sculptor Isobel Kidd, at the opening of her new gallery in Pembroke (Cllr Jonathan Grimes)

Isobel is also celebrating her ‘Living Water’ monumental sculpture being selected for the Wells Art Contemporary. She is excited to get it installed into the Camery Garden at Wells Cathedral, Somerset - a particularly significant location because of its relationship with the ancient springs that gave Wells its name.

The work grew from Kidd's fascination with water as both a physical necessity and a carrier of geological, historical and spiritual time. Its influences range from the vast underground cisterns of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul to the holy wells and healing springs of Pembrokeshire.

For more information about the Isobel Kidd Gallery, visit isobelkidd.co.uk, email [email protected] or follow the artist on instagram.com/sculptureisobelkidd .