Fictions 2022 – at Blyth Gallery Imperial College London

This is the second iteration of Fictions a two person exhibition project begun in 2020. The exhibition showcases new work exhibited for the first time.

This has been an exciting opportunity for Isabel Young and I to work with the curator Mindy Lee to expand notions and approaches to observed, recorded and imagined personal narratives in the space at the Blyth Gallery.

Fictions – Blyth Gallery Imperial College.

The show also includes the collaborative project RE – a unique collaborative artists book lead by Richard Nash and Gary Clough, including contributions from Isabel Young, Adam Knight, Susannah Haslam, Kyung Hwa Shon, Anna Beel, Alkesh Parmer and Linnet Hannan.

RE: Artists Book – 2022

Port of Entry – cross stitch journey

Port of Entry opened this week at the Sun Pier House Gallery in Chatham, the work on show is produced in response to travels and research around the nature of visual collecting and transcription from sketchbooks, from cultures and communities as diverse as Shenzhen, Guangzhou, London and Chatham. It looks at the nature of the language of man-made objects as symbols, both recognised and remembered or shared, in terms of agreed knowledge and narrative.

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These initial observations and memories have been translated into a series of drawings which respond to the nature of visual motifs and metaphors commonly associated with home-spun shared knowledge embedded in the decorative nature of ceramics and textiles.

This has culminated in a series of commissioned cross stitch embroideries working with designer maker Linnet Hannan, transcribing the drawings in to a cotton, cross stitch language associated with both traditions of European samplers and rural embroideries from China.

The work will also be shown in October at the Eagle Gallery in Clerkenwell, London as part of Agency, an exhibition showcasing the work of artists who make up The Artists Agency.