ANNA MATYUS EXHIBITION,ALL SAINTS CHURCH, HELMSLEY 12 – 14 SEPTEMBER 2025.

During the weekend 12 – 14 September 2025 as part of the Heritage Open Days

Festival of events in Helmsley and Upper Ryedale, do make sure you visit All Saints

Church, Helmsley and see the exhibition of prints by the talented and renowned

North Yorkshire artist Anna Matyus.

Anna Matyus’ work explores the powerful spiritual resonance of historical sacred

buildings and their setting in the landscape. She combines the representational

imagery of soaring monumental structures of ancient abbeys and churches with the

intricate and complex patterns and rhythms of their decorative features. 

A distant ancestor of Walter Espec, the 12th century founder of Kirkham and

Rievaulx Abbeys, she has a deep sense of connection with her subject matter. She

is inspired by St Aelred of Rievaulx Abbey who wrote “Everywhere peace,

everywhere serenity, and a marvellous freedom from the tumult of the world.”

Using etching and collagraph printmaking techniques and a colourful palette, Anna

seeks to bring to life the powerful geometry of the often-faded motifs and time-worn

patterns and symbols of historic artefacts found in the masonry and ancient tiles of

these sacred sites. The final prints explore and record the dynamic rhythms of three-

dimensional architectural form, layered with their decorative and symbolic adornment

in a graphic expression of awe and wonder.