CHIPPENHAM-based not for profit community organisation Kandu-Arts have joined forces with 10 artists, many born or living in the Wiltshire area, who have donated art work to be auctioned to raise funds for their Safe and Sounds project with refugees, asylum seekers and their host communities in the UK.

This weekend the art goes on show at the Shoebox Theatre in Swindon. It includes a large scale painting by Harriet Whyatt, depicting the destruction and despair in Syria, which is also the cover for the CD single Cosmic Shower, released by former Spice girl Melanie C last month for the dame appeal.

Harriet has also donated three limited edition framed prints which feature her distinctive style of working.

A whole variety of 2D and 3D work has been donated, highlighting the diversity of approaches whilst portraying similar themes.

Stone carver Sam Lee has worked on a variety of projects from Steps to Grotesques on some of Britain’s most historic buildings and won the Taranti prize for Portrait Sculpture in 2015. In his piece entitled Rain Sam has carved text into green slate, capturing thought and emotion whilst immortalising words into natural stone.

Paintings by artists Caroline Cattermull, Alex Moran, Ray Ward and Rachel Makepeace form part of the art auction. Caroline’s nomadic lifestyle enables her to find inspiration in indigenous landscapes. Her peaceful painting Out to Sea depicts the simple rhythm of life in an East African fishing village.

In stark contrast, Ray’s The Arrival depicts the suffering and plight of people fleeing, capturing their sense of despair.

In Alex Moran’s painting The Seer of Humanity, inspired by the song Cosmic Shower, we are given hope as the seer of humanity portrays a harbinger of justice, healing and peace for those taking a treacherous journey to freedom.

Rachel Makepeace’s painting The Long Road represents the endurance of both mental and physical pain on journeys through the unknown.

Both Mary Quarmby and Sasha Ward use glass in their work in completely different ways. Mary is a contemporary glass artist and her donated piece draws on nature, using colour as a way to express the energy and rhythm of life. Sasha is an architectural glass artist whose work has been commissioned for over seventy public buildings throughout the British Isles, including the House of Lords, Great Western Hospital and Kelmscott Manor. Her work entitled The Arrow display her skills and uniqueness in using glass with collage.

Tom Moore is a South African living and working in Hackney Wick. His practice is diverse and explores a range of confronting issues. In his work Tom often explores the injustice of the varying rights that wealth affords and how it relates to those seeking refuge from war ravaged lands. His donated piece Magic Carpet Ride is a striking tonal intaligo print.

Sculptor Sophy Dury studied art locally as well as at the Accademi di Belle Arti in Florence and the Royal College of Art in London. Her painted terracotta piece, Relief for Syria, is a beautiful and touching image of a mother and a child, encapsulating sorrow and pain but also showing strength and protection.

In addition to the art auction and exhibition, a film The Orange Tree by Sion Evans Berry will be shown. This short film spends time with independent volunteers on the island of Lesbos, Greece and refugees that have made their way to Piraeus harbor in Athens, from their home countries and gives us a snapshot of time in human history.

The art is currently online at jumblebee.co.uk/KanduArtsSafeandSoundsArtAuction and can be seen from Friday July 29-Sunday July 31, 11-4pm, at the theatre in Theatre Square, Swindon.