Working by Lamplight

‘In this exhibition, I aim to show the beautiful side of hard graft and darkness, from 460ft underground to the ‘now’, how things have been left for the next generation to explore and experience the past of Britian’s industrial history’ – Matt Sayers, 2026′ 

Discover West Midlands artist Matt Sayers’ evocative charcoal drawings, created under lamplight in his studio to mirror the atmosphere of working underground. These exclusive, site specific charcoal works reveal the beauty of Caphouse Colliery, tracing a journey from deep below the surface to the industrial heritage we share today.

Staffordshire‑based artist Matt Sayers works predominantly with charcoal on brown paper, creating stark and atmospheric depictions of collieries and coal mines. Working entirely by lamplight, Sayers adopts a method that echoes the sensory conditions of the underground environment. The restricted, directional light sharpens contrasts, heightens texture and forces the eye to adjust, offering a unique way of working that mirrors the experience of descending into the mine itself.

Sayers’ practice recalls a world now consigned to history, yet his drawings are infused with gentle humour, warmth and meticulous attention to detail. His acclaimed 2024 exhibition When Coal Was King at Cannock Chase Museum received high praise from former miners for its historical accuracy and evocative atmosphere, particularly in his depictions of shafts, damp roadways and the bleak terrain of the Cannock Chase coalfields.

For this exhibition, Sayers presents a new body of work responding directly to the Museum’s unique site and the 140m descent into pit bottom. The journey begins above ground with the dramatic vista from the Pony Discovery Centre, moving across the colliery landscape and past the striking orange waters of the Mine Water Treatment Plant. Underground, the experience starts in the cage, a moment Sayers captures through lamplight drawing, using illumination not simply as a tool but as a way of understanding how it feels to be below the surface.

To deepen the narrative, the exhibition interweaves Sayers’ new works with rarely seen drawings from the Museum’s collection, including Marjorie Arnfield’s study of the screens, Tom Lamb’s miners eating their bait and Harry Hicken’s monotype prints of underground life. These works create a dialogue across generations of artists who have interpreted mining communities through their own visual languages.

At the heart of the exhibition is a recreation of Sayers’ Cannock studio, offering visitors an insight into the atmosphere, tools and working conditions that shape his practice.

Saturday 12 September, 10am-3pm – Meet the Artist:

Step into the glow of a miner’s lamp with artist Matt Sayers. Inspired by Henry Moore and mining artists including Tom McGuinness, Harry Hicken and Margaret Boulton, Matt draws under lamplight to recreate the atmosphere of working underground. Meet him in his exhibition Working by Lamplight and hear how mining heritage shapes his work.