A touch of New York has brightened up Wivenhoe station in Essex thanks to a series of artworks specially created for the station by artist Ella Johnston.

The striking and bold artworks titled “UK Station Platform: Urban Conversations” form a new exhibition for Wivenhoe’s Art Off the Rails’ art and poetry project based at the station.

Through the artwork, Ella looks to explore the encounters people have when they leave the comfort of their own homes.

‘Art Off the Rails’ is a gallery o the station where the artworks are being displayed, and is part of the Essex and South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership (ESSCRP) community rail project.

Over 45 Greater Anglia stations in Essex and South Suffolk have been adopted by volunteers, but so far Wivenhoe is the only station with a gallery. The current exhibition can be viewed at Wivenhoe Station until Saturday, 17th September.

Artist Ella Johnston said “The exhibition seeks to capture the excitement, hope and possibility that outside influences and interactions can bring. I hope they evoke the potential for good or bad that we can offer to others when we leave the house and travel by train.

I chose this series for the station platform to bring bright bold colour to the space and to encourage travellers to reflect upon their time away from home. I’ve layered bright and vivid colours that clash and combine to not only evoke the life and breadth of conversations but also to ponder on the contradictions and reflections of those exchanges and meetings when away from home.”

Jayne Sumner of ESSCRP said “We love Ella’s bold and beautiful images which are currently welcoming people to Wivenhoe across the station this summer. The Essex and Suffolk Community Rail Partnership is all about finding new and innovative ways of encouraging people to travel by train and to create and protect healthy environments at the stations we have an interest in and the quirky gallery spaces in Wivenhoe are very much part of that!”