AN EXCITING new exhibition is displayed at Quay Arts this month ­— a first for Island-artist and former Natural History Museum restorer, Violet Mareck.

Violet graduated in 1983 from the University of East London with a degree in fine art, focussing on three-dimensional and mixed media.

She worked at the Natural History Museum in London for many years, initially as a restorer of scientific exhibits, before helming the museum’s production and project management department.

Retiring in 2014, she moved to the Island and set up her own studio space in Ryde ­— and in the last three years, her work has been exhibited in galleries both in London and the Isle of Wight.

Her art reflects the diversity and fragility of human existence, and is realised through a variety of mediums.

She works with plaster, clay, wire and soft materials for her three-dimensional work, and anything that makes a mark for two-dimensional pieces.

The exhibition, showing at the Clayden Gallery, Quay Arts, runs until Saturday, February 22.

The gallery is open from 10am until 5pm, closing at 4pm on Sundays.