'Underfoot' solo exhibition by Sara Dobbs

The Gerald Moore Gallery is delighted to present Underfoot, a solo exhibition featuring a new series of paintings and textile pieces by Sara Dobbs, an American artist based in London. Informed by a background in agriculture, her practice explores the terrain as both a living system and a vessel of memory, history, and growth. Rather than a single physical surface, the land is dynamic, an intricate layering of soil, roots, insects and microbes, where what lies beneath sustains what is seen above.

The private view will be on Thursday 15th January from 6 to 8pm and the exhibition runs from 15th January to the 14th February 2026.

Rendered in saturated, non-naturalistic hues, the works depict American landscapes, mountains, trees, and bodies of water, refracted through layers of colour and perception. Each work captures not a single place, but the act of traversing a landscape: paths formed by repeated steps, traces that alter and inscribe the land.

At the centre of the exhibition, a large chiffon wall hanging extends these ideas, its translucent blocks of colour merging with the space, evoking the porous, layered nature of landscape itself. Together, the paintings and textiles consider how we move through, shape, and are shaped by the ground beneath our feet.

As part of the exhibition programme, artist Sara Dobbs will run a free Sculptural Insect workshop on Saturday 24th January 2026 from 11am – 12:30pm where families will create their own insect sculptures using fabric and paper.

For more information and to book, please go to our website at www.geraldmooregallery.org

The Gerald Moore Gallery is an art centre for modern and contemporary art with learning at its heart. Opened in April 2012, in Mottingham, the gallery is uniquely set within the grounds of Eltham College and is a valuable resource for the students and the local community. The gallery has gained momentum hosting some exciting exhibitions including works by Matisse, Louise Bourgeois, and Cornelia Parker, whilst supporting emerging local artists. In unison with the exhibitions, the gallery's outreach programme works with local community groups, teachers, and schools, creating lasting relationships with our locality. Gerald Moore Gallery was made possible with the foresight and generosity of Old Elthamian, Dr Gerald Moore, many of whose works are archived at the gallery and who has a permanent exhibition on display.