SOMERSET is to become home to an exhibition of miniature artworks, inspired by more than 200 artists' experience of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The artworks will be displayed in a set of old printer's letterpress drawers, based at Clayhill Arts, Bridgwater - and showcased online.

The drawers' tiny compartments - which originally housed print typefaces - have provided a stimulus for the exhibiting artists, who were also inspired by the restrictions many of us have experienced due to covid-19.

The new works, from all over the world, include a four-piece jigsaw, tiny books, a decorated coin and small shell sculptures made out of old maps.

The idea was devised by artist Amanda Lynch, who became fascinated by the Mail Art Movement which began in the 1960s, when artists sent postcards with poems or drawings through the post rather than exhibiting through conventional channels.

She said: “I’ve been sending postcards through the mail since the first lockdown began.

"It’s a good way to keep in touch, and it brings such joy when people receive a piece of art through the letterbox.

“One of the things I wanted to do with this exhibition was to include some of the people who sometimes find it harder to get their work exhibited, so I’ve reached out to disabled artists and to emerging artists and encouraged them to take part.

“I wanted to share this creative conversation with others so, as well as inviting people to send their tiny pieces of art, I’m setting up an artists’ network so that we can stay in touch and learn from each other.”

Work has been sent through the post from all over Britain, and as far afield as Canada, the Faroe Islands, Japan and New Zealand.

One of the artists involved, Benji Appleby-Tyler, used his work to show that under the current restrictions, many of us do not feel ‘whole’.

He created a small jigsaw with each of the four pieces displayed in a separate compartment; the work aims to show how people’s mental health is affected by lockdown restrictions, which force many people to be alone.

The link with the letterpress drawers has a personal significance for the artist, whose grandfather worked as a typesetter at the Weston Mercury for many years.

The exhibition will be launched online by Clayhill Arts on Tuesday, March 23 - a year on from the start of the first lockdown in the UK.