THE WEIGHT OF SMALL THINGS
RICHARD BAKER & KAREN BRITCLIFFE
1 SEPT – 29 NOV 2025
EYE ROOM, LEEDS
THE ART COURT X
EYE ROOM
The Art Court was founded in 2022 by Courtney Spencer to sell, source and commission art for public and private settings in the North of England.
We curate temporary exhibitions in beautiful spaces across Yorkshire, creating a welcoming way to buy art. Owning artworks that truly resonate with you can enhance everyday life. We take time to understand your taste, space, budget and practical considerations, drawing on our extensive network of artists to find the perfect piece for you.
We are delighted to be collaborating with Eye Room. This is the seventh in a series of exhibitions that the independent optician has hosted in its Scandinavian-inspired setting in Leeds city centre. Already known for its carefully curated range of eyewear and discerning sense of style, Eye Room now extends that approach to art, enhancing the experience for clients and art lovers alike. The exhibition can be viewed both in this online catalogue and in person.
This exhibition has been made possible thanks to the support of the artists involved, The Art Court, Eye Room and Leeds City Council.
OPENING TIMES
Mon - Fri, 10 am - 6 pm Sat 10 am - 5 pm
All welcome
Eye Room, 9 Mill Hill, Leeds LS1 5DQ
RICHARD BAKER
B. 1971 HULL, UK
Richard Baker is a painter based in Leeds whose small-scale, unpeopled works explore interior spaces through quiet studies of mid-century furniture and domestic objects. His practice reflects on presence and absence, memory, and the traces of lives once lived. Through meticulous attention to form and light, his paintings evoke a stillness and psychological depth, inviting the viewer into spaces that feel both familiar and unreachable.
His work has been exhibited widely, including at the Royal Academy of Arts, the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, and museums in China, Poland, and the United States. He was awarded the Discerning Eye Regional Prize for the North in 2024 and the Wells Art Contemporary Patron’s Prize in 2020. His work is held in the PrisemanSeabrook Collection of 21st Century British Painting.
KAREN BRITCLIFFE
B. 1968 SCUNTHORPE, UK
Karen Britcliffe is a sculptor who has recently relocated to Leeds. Her practice explores the spaces we inhabit and those we are displaced from, probing the complex idea of home and the structures that hold, comfort, and define us. Working predominantly in miniature, she creates intimate sculptures small enough to sit in the palm of your hand. At first these works may appear playful or nostalgic, but they gradually reveal deeper and more unsettling themes.
Miniatures are inherently seductive objects, often recalling childhood memories of dolls’ houses and domestic interiors, spaces of curiosity, control and care. By removing the fourth wall, Karen invites us to peer into these internal worlds, exposing what is usually hidden. Time feels suspended in her pieces, as though we are witnessing a moment held still: arrested life, quiet observation, and the traces of what once was.
THE WEIGHT OF SMALL THINGS
The Weight of Small Things brings together work by Karen Britcliffe and Richard Baker, two artists who share a sensitivity to detail and an interest in domestic objects and spaces. The exhibition invites us to pause and notice the quiet resonance of the small things that shape our surroundings.
Karen’s sculptural assemblages and architectural miniatures sit between fragility and permanence. Created with great care, her models distil the essence of a building or structure, transforming them into works that feel both precise and dreamlike. Scaled down and encased, they become contemplative objects, filled with memory and a strong sense of place.
Richard’s paintings echo this attention to the modest and the domestic. His subjects are interiors and familiar furnishings, captured in moments of stillness. Everyday objects are transformed through paint into carriers of intimacy and familiarity. His measured compositions and gentle palette give the works a reflective quality, suggesting how memory lingers in rooms and rests on the furniture within them.
Together, Karen and Richard create a thoughtful exchange between sculpture and painting, exterior and interior, public and domestic. The Weight of Small Things is about noticing details, recognising the emotional pull that places and objects hold in our lives, and the importance they play in creating a sense of home.
KAREN BRITCLIFFE
3.3 (2024)
13 x 9 x 30cm
Mixed media
£450
KAREN BRITCLIFFE
The Madames (2024)
7 x 14 x 15cm
Mixed media
£300
KAREN BRITCLIFFE
Green Mooring (2024)
14 x 13 x 10cm
Mixed media
£275
KAREN BRITCLIFFE
California Dreaming (2020–2023)
19 x 11 x 10cm
24 x 17 x 15.5cm (framed)
Mixed media and rain water
£500
KAREN BRITCLIFFE
no149 (2020)
13 x 12 x 7cm
16.5 x 17 x 12cm (framed)
Mixed media
£550
KAREN BRITCLIFFE
Blue Stool (2023)
7 x 11 x 8cm
Mixed media
£250
KAREN BRITCLIFFE
Orange Aeroplane (2024)
13 x 14 x 28cm
Mixed media
£450
KAREN BRITCLIFFE
no153 (2020)
16 x 12 x 7cm
19.5 x 17 x 11.5cm (framed)
Mixed media
£600
KAREN BRITCLIFFE
Black Bike (2024)
5 x 8 x 10cm
Mixed media
£250
KAREN BRITCLIFFE
Yellow measure (2024)
7 x 11 x 7cm
Mixed media
£200
KAREN BRITCLIFFE
Plaster Fragment (2024)
6 x 8 x 8cm
Cardboard, vintage wallpaper, plaster
£50
KAREN BRITCLIFFE
The Diplomat (2020–2023)
19 x 11 x 10cm
22.5 x 16.5 x 16cm (framed)
Mixed media and plaster
£500
17 Coppin
28 x 7 x 12cm
Mixed media
£750
KAREN BRITCLIFFE
(2021)
RICHARD BAKER
Till The End of Time (2025)
18cm x 18cm
Oil on canvas panel
£750
RICHARD BAKER
Cabinet (2019)
20cm x 15cm
Oil on calico over panel
£750
RICHARD BAKER
Meeting 3 (2020)
15cm x 20cm
Oil on calico over panel
£750
RICHARD BAKER
Day Bed (2024)
24cm x 31cm
Oil on calico over panel
£1,450
RICHARD BAKER
Radiator (2014)
20cm x 25cm
Oil on gesso panel
£1,090
RICHARD BAKER
Cupboard (2016)
20cm x 15cm
Oil on calico over panel
£750
RICHARD BAKER
Small Table (2017)
14.5cm x 8.5cm
Oil on panel
£450
RICHARD BAKER
Blue Drawers (2025)
15cm x 20cm
Oil on panel
£750
The exhibition is also available to view in person at Eye Room.
OPENING TIMES
Mon - Fri, 10am - 6pm Sat 10am - 5pm All welcome
Eye Room, 9 Mill Hill, Leeds LS1 5DQ
If you would like further information about any of the artworks or our personal art shopping service please contact us via the details below and we will be delighted to assist you.
Images courtesy of the artist and Courtney Spencer.
+44 (0)77 8618 1968
CURATOR@THEARTCOURT.CO.UK
WWW.THEARTCOURT.CO.UK
