OPEN ABOUT IDENTITY

ARTWORK STATEMENTS

0
25.05.2024 - 02.09.2024
1. Raphael Mihai
Perfectionism
2024
Acrylic on wood
£150

This painting is meant to depict artistic

perfectionism and imposter syndrome. These
things often collide in the creative process, causing
artists to doubt their abilities despite external
validation. A painter may obsess over every detail
of their work, fearing exposure as a fraud. Despite
acclaim, they struggle with self-doubt, seeing
imperfections magnified. Yet, this tension drives
them to push boundaries and evolve creatively,
creating art that reflects their resilience in the face
of doubt.

2. Holly Passmore
Nanda in the Kitchen
2021
Photograph
NFS

These images are part of an ongoing body of work

which explores the realm of time and memory
through the day-to-day life of Nanda, an elderly
woman living alone in England’s rural southwest.
Nanda is a peculiar character, having largely avoided
the pitfalls of modernity. Instead, she has chosen a
relatively frugal existence, opting to grow her own
food, and fixing and reusing wherever possible.
However, these pleasures have become less possible
with each year that passes. Nanda’s world is slowly
shrinking as the things that once shaped her identity
gradually slip out of reach.

@hollypassmorephoto

3. Dave Alexander
Product of Empire
2024
Mixed media
NFS

In 1948, the Empire Windrush set sail from

Jamaica, bringing people promised a land of
opportunity, to England.
In 1949, the Golfito banana boat carried my
newlywed grandmother to the Caribbean to
reunite with my grandfather, doing post-war
Medical Corp service in the latter days of empire.
My father was born in Jamaica in 1950.
These contrasting journeys were made as a
Product of Empire. The legacy of which is not fully
discussed, but is an increasingly clear part of my
identity - my privilege and others’ hardships.
I live, work and make art in Williton, Somerset.
4. Juice Cui
life flash
2023
Print
£520

Life Flash (2023) is a 85*85cm textile print

implying waveforms. It interprets what one could
potentially see, hear and feel in the final moments
of life. It is composed from a collection of 100
poems in 26 languages. Recorded mostly with
strangers on the streets, these poems shared a
consistent theme of redemption — joy and grief,
love and death, confinement and acceptance.

5. Lyn Barlow
Thread of Life
2024
Textile, mixed media
£350

For me ‘identity’ is an evolving, shapeshifting

essential artery that runs throughout one’s
lifetime, influenced not only by lived experience,
a sense of self but also a perception of how you
think others see you. I decided to focus on what
I felt were the most defining, impactful events,
or periods, I’ve lived through and used my textile
art to translate them into a ‘route map’, of sorts.
From childhood rebellion, activism, a growing thirst
for knowledge through emotional turmoil and
subsequent recovery, or ‘rebirth’, made possible
through embracing my creativity and finally finding
my voice.

6. Peter Lazare
Coming up from the Beach
2021
Oil on canvas
£1,500

This self-portrait simply shows a man searching

out his appearance in the mirror, in front of a
remembered sky.
To see more work and CV please visit my website
https://peterlazare.com/ or see
https://www.instagram.com/peterzivkolazare/.
7. Sara Bor
Selfie Sextet
2018
Found earth pigments on canvas
£2,500

I am a Visual Artist and a PhD Researcher at

Falmouth University. My research is an exploration
of the meaning of ‘home.’ Through the creation
of a unique set of artworks, I am using my own
biographical reference and the history of domestic
life in a 19th century agricultural community
to explore the impact on women. Selfie Sextet
appropriates earth pigments foraged from
the locality of my home. The work is part of my
research and questions the invisibility of older
women in our society, reflecting on the loss of
identity and agency felt by many older women.

8. Corinna Spencer
Landscape
2023
Pencil and watercolour on canvas
£675

Spencer approaches drawing and painting in a way

that pushes the limits of recognisable figurative
form while embracing subjects such as belonging,
loss, death and solitude. Spencer often combines
these themes within an other-worldly landscape.

9. Cath Bloomfield
Icon
2019
Mixed media
£1,100

I consider myself to be predominantly a mark maker

exploring texture and form through the medium of
printmaking and collage.
I am not fixed in my thoughts when work begins; ideas
present themselves in the workshop as printing is in
progress.
Icon is part of a larger body of work I have named
Warrior Women. Ideas began with small scale sketches
of figures. Giving these free rein to evolve, shapes
revealed themselves and I went along for the ride!
Cutting and collaging, literally rebuilding the emerging
figure, perhaps an investigation into our many roles
today. Each warrior an individual in their expression.
10. Georgina King
Grounded/Unbound
2024
Acrylic, sand and Mercia Mudstone pigment
£420

Grounded/Unbound explores Earth as the

foundation of our being. My practice involves
walking, painting, drawing and printmaking
out in the landscape, allowing me an embodied
experience of place as it unfolds. I use natural
pigments layered with site-specific imprints
of ancient strata and it is in this co-creation
with nature that there is a mutual shaping,
enchantment and healing. This painting evolved
out of the shifting intertidal zone. Grounding
myself in this liminal landscape dissolves notions of
identity and brings a sense of belonging to the web
of all life. Pure presence and boundless freedom is
all that remains.

11. Harry Borden

Cedric
Photograph
£500

12. Ann Farley

Us
2024
Stitched drawings on cotton and canvas
£400
13. Edie Evans
Traced Landscape
2023
Clay on fabric
NFS

Edie Evans (b.1995, Oxford, UK) is a South West-

based artist, holding a MFA from BSU (2023) and
a BA (Hons) from Central Saint Martins (2018). A
conscientious and value-driven artist, she embraces
an ethical approach, venturing beyond traditional
materials to explore found objects, gathered
materials, and natural processes. Through immersive
exploration, she consciously collects traces, forging
connections, and becoming part of unfolding
narratives. Her work delves into the reciprocal
relationship between material and the earth, creating
a circular understanding of provenance. Beyond mere
observation, her art encourages active audience
engagement, sparking reflections on our relationship
with the environment.

14. Lianjiang Zhu

Looking for Adonis
2023
Wall poster
NFS

15. Sara Netherway

The Underground Man
2024
Oil on deep stretched canvas
£850

Based on the Isle of Wight, I’m interested in exploring

the human form through portraits and narrative
work. I work mainly in oils with a focus on a figurative
language. My piece The Underground Man was
inspired by Dostoevsky’s Notes From Underground.
Eyes closed, he turns his torture inward, stuck in his
dark corner of self-imposed isolation, an exile from
society. ‘I am a sick man... I am a spiteful man. I am
an unpleasant man.’
16. David Bernard
Brexit Despair
2020
Acrylic on board
£250

This work reflects my emotional response to the

Brexit vote and how that has impacted on my
perceived identity as a citizen of the UK.

17. Grazyna Wikierska

The Fool
2022
Acrylic and spray paint on canvas
£1,500

I am a multidisciplinary artist experimenting in painting

through 3D textile forms, performance and photography.
I often refer to spirituality, quantum physics, shamanism,
human nature and our connection with the universe.
Painting Fool refers to the topic of identity where I strive
to depict the eternal question we all ask ourselves: ‘Who
am I?’ In this self-portrait I wanted to depict a flow of
life and oneness with everything. We put on masks of
the different roles that we play in our lives. Until we
know that we don’t need masks and just see through
them that we are one consciousness expressing in
many individualities, shapes and forms. As long as we
remember that it’s just a mask, there’s no problem. We
are materialised divine beings with our unique always
changing personas.

18. Miles Elliott

Decay of Leaves in Autumn
2020
Pencil on paper
£1,350

Decay of Leaves in Autumn is an abstract drawing

where the outlines and details of decaying leaves
are overlayed upon one another. It is made slowly
over several months, finding new leaves from the
garden each Sunday. With more than half the
world’s population now living in cities, ‘nature’
can often feel like something external to us
rather than something we are a part of. Carefully
studying natural objects by drawing them can be
a meditative practice which nurtures a greater
sense of connection to nature, thereby helping us
to identify with it.
19. Gina May Selene
Domestic Violence: 1999-2020, Exhibit 2
2023
Embroidery & appliqué
NFS

Confronted with the silencing and isolation of

domestic abuse, I sought solace through stitching
fragments of other womens’ work into my own.
Their anonymous stitches, from many times and
places, carried the comforting resonance of their
voices to me at times of fear and vulnerability.
These palimpsests of ancient needlework and
my own embroidered words and symbols, pulled
the beauty of making from the ugliness of abuse.
These pieces were acts of hidden defiance and
escape. They now stand as symbols of resilience
and survival.

20. Ailbhe Callanan

Ties That Bind
2024
Lithograph and monoprint on oiled newsprint
NFS

My practice is concerned with identity and lived

experience in relation to geographical spaces.
Ties That Bind emerged from an investigation
into the parameters of my identity as an Irish
artist based in England. My process begins with
walking, as I attempt to seek out connection with
this unfamiliar land while confronting inherent
historical complexities. Several threads have
emerged in my work in response to this process,
including the use of mapping, found objects,
text, and transparencies. These raw materials
form the basis of my studio practice, allowing my
work to reside somewhere between the 2- and
3-dimensional.

21. Mark Fearbunce

Confetti from the Wedding of George Osborne and
Thea Rogers
2023
Confetti from the wedding of George Osborne and
Thea Rogers on paper
£540

On the 8th July 2023, former UK chancellor George

Osborne was showered with orange confetti at his
wedding by a presumed Just-Stop-Oil sympathiser.
Gathering the remains and neatly ordering the confetti
is attempting to make sense of the environmental
indifference of capitalism. In the strange, chaotic and
sometimes unnerving place we find ourselves in, order
can paradoxically highlight absurdity. This is not just
any orange paper, this is the specific orange paper that
was used for this specific protest. Its unique identity as
an historical artefact would not be out of place in the
British Museum where George Osborne is chair.
22. Harry Borden
Gordon
Photograph
£500

23. Yuyang Chen

Bathroom
2023
Oil painting
NFS

In Chen’s contemplative painting, she explores

the notion of the bathroom as an exceptionally
intimate space. The act of showering, a precious
interlude in her day, becomes a sanctuary where
she carves out time for herself. In the bathroom’s
embrace, vulnerable and exposed, she envelops
herself in the warmth of cascading hot water,
evoking a sense of returning to the mother’s
womb. In those moments, she exists singularly
in the world, seamlessly merging with the
surrounding water.

24. Jenni Dutton

POWER/PLAY/PROTECT/PROTEST
2019-2024
Wools hand sewn through fine netting stretched
over canva
NFS

I am a Person with Attitude

I am the Crone
I am an Artist and Maker
I am an Eco-Activist
I am an Introverted Extrovert
I am a Friend
I am Me and not You

In this self portrait from The Absurd Sewn Selfies

series, I continue to explore my own identity and
relevance in a society that undervalues older women. I
am paradoxically dealing with the desire for invisibility
by being very visible. I am looking at you looking at me.
25. Jess Littlewood
In the Mirror
2024
Quilted collage on cotton
£1,300

Borrowing from traditional marquetry and quilting

techniques, I use images of Moire ribbon pieced
together to create a Trompe L’oeil world in which
to explore collecting, memory, time and our
relationship to nature.
Within these spaces, collections of objects stand in
for humans, grouping together to reveal something
both personal and universal.
Printed onto paper and fabric the work takes on
an ambiguous quality, resembling many different
forms of making. These mirriad references allow
the work to speak of the complexity of identity,
how it might change with time and context, and an
attempt to fulfill many different roles.

26. Louise Bradley

An Unnatural Sense
2023
Oil on reclaimed wood
£250

An Unnatural Sense (2023). Reclaimed wood, house

paint, oil paint and pencil.
The lone foot seems playful and humorous yet is
being punctured by the grass blades, as if at odds
with nature. Bradley states “natural history tends
to be heteronormative and therefore alienating to
queer people, often when I make work in nature it
captures a sense of otherness and alienation”.
The use of reclaimed wood as a surface to paint on
is an act celebrating discarded material. Bradley’s
work is mainly sculptural, with drawing and
photographic aspects.

27. Peter Ward

nowhere to hide
2020
Archival digital photographic print (Cornish and
North Devon earth pigments with painted canvas
backdrop)
POA

Peter Ward has been at the forefront of research into

earth pigments in the UK for the past 18 years, making
paintings and performing workshops in conversation
with ochres from South West England and beyond, his
work featured in exhibitions and publications worldwide.
The artwork submitted for this exhibition represents and
expresses Peter’s most recent line of enquiry, seeking
anticolonial identity in relation to a somatic experience
of material and place. Despite our best efforts in this
time of ecological upheaval there really is nowhere to
hide. Peter is currently based among the minefields and
ancient landscape of West Penwith, Cornwall.
28. Delaney Rogers
Mommy
2023
Premium Luster Photo Print
$150
£118.70

29. Hamish Young

Phone
2021
Diptych — acrylic on canvas
£1,200

30. Holly Passmore

Nanda with Chickens
2020
Photograph
NFS

These images are part of an ongoing body of work

which explores the realm of time and memory through
the day-to-day life of Nanda, an elderly woman living
alone in England’s rural South West.
Nanda is a peculiar character, having largely avoided
the pitfalls of modernity. Instead, she has chosen a
relatively frugal existence, opting to grow her own
food, and fixing and reusing wherever possible.
However, these pleasures have become less possible
with each year that passes. Nanda’s world is slowly
shrinking as the things that once shaped her identity
gradually slip out of reach.

Holly Passmore
@hollypassmorephoto
31. Hamish Young
Postcard
2021
Triptych - acrylic on canvas
£995

32. Ava White

Why are we treated differently when we are all
made from the same things
Newspaper collage, spray paint and acrylic
NFS

33. Mike Bradshaw

Self portrait: ‘In Living Memory’
2024
Mixed media
NFS

Over many years, Mike established a visual

archive of found and recorded objects of selective
interest. These extensive collections contribute
to the construction of narratives and his curious
working environment.
The objects chosen to make In Living Memory,
are like the words from a dictionary. Put
together, they tell a story through the abstract
depiction of a shrine to identity circa 1976. This
was a formative year, the memory of which was
significant in shaping who he is today. There
are references to chance, faith, symbolism,
personality, heritage, hope and the love of others,
both from present, past and future.
34. Kester Welch
Giggs
2023
Oil on canvas
£750

Kester Welch is a British artist based in Somerset.

He describes himself as a “confident risk-taker” and
names Picasso, Goldsworthy and Banksy among
his inspirations. The self-taught artist specialises in
oils although believes “our art and our lives should
not be limited”. Thus, he frequently extends his work
to incorporate rogue heavy textures and vibrant
colours, where the focus is created by energy and
feelings rather than aesthetics.
Giggs, a portrait inspired by the British Rapper,
depicts how music shapes our identities. We all see
music in different colours, and what we listen to
helps us paint our world.

35. Catherine Heard

Midlife Crisis
2024
Emulsion, acrylic and spray paint
£1,950

I am a bit of a multidisciplinary artist, although my

background is in painting. I find myself a student
again (MA Fine Art at Central St Martins) after
a couple of decades away from art. My work
normally centres around climate change, but I was
very glad to have this interruption to think about
identity. If I think about my own identity it looks
like a bit of a midlife crisis.

36. Jenny Graham

THE IMPERFECT MATRIX OF ME
2024
Etching and photoetching
£165

In today’s society so much of who we are is translated

by technology into a set of symbols. My work is
created from part genome sequence and part my own
QR code. However the codes have been broken due to
the sometimes imperfect process of photo-etching
and the creative process in general.
37. Mellony Taper
Domestic Use Only (Apron Strings series)
2024
Digital photograph of found objects, on linen, sewn
into traditional kitchen roller towel. Displayed on
traditional oak roller holder.
£595

My practice sits somewhere at the intersection of

trad and new media. Often working with digital
photography as a raw material, I work outside any
single ‘maker definition’, making works that don’t
much care about accepted definitions of photography,
drawing, moving image or sculpture. I am interested in
how new media art manifests itself in the world.
Since the birth of my daughter, the genesis of my work
has been shaped by the borders of the domiciliary:
digital works manifesting themselves — currently
— in the memorabilia — and the fabrics of a home:
household linens, bedcovers, towels, napkins, tissues…
’Artifex Domestica’.

38. Zsofia Hajdu

Fantasy
2023
Rayon yarns
£3,000

My works are always about creating (self-)

narratives, and they often juxtapose the time-
consuming nature of weaving and embroidering
with the impulsivity and banality of passing
thoughts. The work Fantasy paraphrases bell
hooks’ sentence about how the word ‘fantasy’
becomes derogative when used in connection to
women’s dreams and desires.

39. Michelle Marie Forrest-Beckett

c0de to the Womb Room, cross-stitch pattern part 1
2024
Digital print on linen, metal rod and brackets
NFS

I grew up in a home that was constantly repainted,

but it was never simply a fresh lick of paint or an
accent wall. Each layer of colour mummified the
previous, filling the walls, up onto the ceiling, flowing
through to the furnishings, drowning whatever was
there before.
Taking a {psycho, techno, archaeological} approach,
the Smothered Tongue Series is a colour-coded
language, sourced and collaged from articles,
literature, film and music, which speak to the
memories of growing-up in colour saturated spaces.
Scan the QR code to tune in or skip and shuffle and
dance around the heart of these matters.
40. Ingrid Hesling
Love Bites (from “Smile” — A Family Album)
2001
Giclée Print
NFS

When I was sixteen I discovered I was adopted. In

that moment, I was suddenly no longer who I haf d
always thought I was. Not only was I adopted but
my ‘father’ was really my uncle and my ‘aunt’ was
really my mother. My world had been turned upside
down and all my reference points completely
changed.
Some thirty years later, as a practicing
photographer I made “Smile”— A Family Album, in
order to interrogate and challenge the truths and
lies buried within the smiling faces of the family
photograph album. The image Love Bites is from
that body of work.

41. Georgie Willmington

The Burden of a Pink World
2024
Photograph
£500

The Burden of a Pink World is a humorous depiction

of the struggles that young girls and women face
due to society’s conventional outlook on their
transition into adulthood. As a naïve child, I felt the
pressure to conform to traditional gender norms
and I was obsessed with things I considered to be
mature and feminine. Wanting to appear “grown-
up,” I would wear pink plastic princess heals, pretend
to smoke candy cigarettes and stuff my top with
tissues. Now as an adult, I feel quite the reverse and
reject what is expected of me as a woman.

42. Boyuan Wang

Self-portrait — Mitsu
2023
Graphite on paper
£1,000
43. Rachel Smith
1965
2022
Reduction linocut
£120

Objects and what they represent are a major part

of Rachel’s work. She examines their position as
conduits of meaning and vehicles for storytelling,
objects that hold memories and emotion, and take on
positions of elevation and importance in our lives. In
the work 1965, Rachel explores the stories locked away
inside treasured objects when identity and agency is
stripped away by Alzheimer’s; stories that become
unknowable as the person becomes unreachable.

44. Peter Lazare

Self-Portrait as Saint Prince
2004
Pastel
£1,500

Self-Portrait as Saint Prince was prompted

by thoughts of my father, unable to return to
Yugoslavia after World War II. I took the pose
from a 19th century engraving of the Serbian hero,
Karageorge, adapting his costume with my own
preoccupations, such as Titian’s Death of Actaeon.
Saint Prince was the title given to medieval Serbian
leaders such as Lazar (my almost namesake).
To see more work and CV please visit my website
https://peterlazare.com/ or see
https://www.instagram.com/peterzivkolazare/.

45. Jess Littlewood

In a Flash III
2023
Collage printed on paper
£1,100

Borrowing from traditional marquetry and quilting

techniques, I use images of Moire ribbon pieced
together to create a Trompe L’oeil world in which
to explore collecting, memory, time and our
relationship to nature.
46. Olana Light
Searching for a Place to Belong SHI
2023
Photography (series) - print on dibond
£800 per photograph

Light’s work delves into the complexity of identity,

capturing the many layers that make up an
individual’s sense of self. Her ongoing exploration
of finding a sense of belonging and discovering her
place in the world leads her to realise that we are
an integral part of nature. This idea of unity with
nature is central to her work.
Audiences are invited to witness the human
seamlessly merging with the natural world, creating
a collective ‘we-world’ that transcends societal
divisions and offers an inclusive space where
everyone feels a sense of belonging. By freeing
herself from societal norms, Light delves into the
essence of humanity and our place in the universe.

47. Annie Clay

West Country Meats
2021
Acrylic and coloured pencil on canvas
£850

West Country Meats is an exploration of my

identity as a woman through observing life and
British culture in the everyday environment around
us. ‘Meat’ or ‘meat market’ was a common phrase
often used growing up in the 1990s and 2000s
to describe women going out nightclubbing.
The objectification of women in this way was
normalised through my teenage years, and I find
now I am unpicking and understanding how time
has challenged these views for the better. As a
mother of a daughter I am conscious of the use of
language surrounding her development and how
this plays a key role in shaping who we (and she)
will become.
48. Amalia Castoldi
Op. 5 n. 6
2021
Oil on canvas board
NFS

In a world where mirrors never existed, self-

reflection is a foreign concept; no one glimpses
their own reflection. Labels adhere to tangible
objects but fade within minds. Identity is the
memory of lived experiences, portrait into
abstraction, inviting the viewer to look closer and
find stories within stories.

49. Shengdi Cui

What I have become in the end
2024
Matte photographic paper
£150

This photograph uses exaggerated and absurd

props to delve into the meaning of identity and
explore its multiple dimensions.

50. Zsofia Hajdu

Takes time
2023
Rayon yarns
£3,000

My works are always about creating (self-)

narratives, and they often juxtapose the time-
consuming nature of weaving and embroidering
with the impulsivity and banality of passing
thoughts. Takes time plays with the almost
compulsive act of weaving and the inner
monologues of the weaver in question.
51. Annabel Anderson
Looking Towards the Brendons
2024
Collage using artist’s painted paper
£300

I studied at the Ruskin School of Art and in

Barcelona where I lived for many years. I have
always painted and now that I have returned to
Somerset where I spent my childhood, I feel specially
attached to this beautiful countryside which
inspires my work and with which I strongly identify.
I cannot imagine living away from this rolling
landscape with its patchwork of woods and fields,
vibrant colours and iconic hills. The lie of the land,
the sense of rhythm and the constant change of
light form the inspiration and basis of my paintings.

52. Jane Mowat

Strange Child
2015
Woodcut
£550

A gust of wind sweeps across the elm plank, and

I am drawing figures caught in its grip, their hair
flying. I imagine a mother and child, she reaching
out tenderly to touch the child, and he, a strange
small figure, stubborn, perhaps resisting the wind.
I do not know who they are, or why they came. I
usually work spontaneously in this way, inspired by
the surface of the wood, its grain, shape and knots
guiding my thoughts. Elm is particularly busy and
sometimes difficult to work with, but here it gave
me the energy I needed for the image.

53. Le Liu
Party business
2023
Oil on canvas
£10,000
54. Shengdi Cui
Who are you
2024
Matte photographic paper
£150

This photograph uses a mirror as a prop to

examine how individuals should present themselves
within a collective.

55. Nicky Saunter

Crossing the Zebra
2024
Monochrome photo digital print
£185

56. Katherine Laing

Self portrait on cupboard door (1972)
1972
Paint on cupboard
NFS
57. Sue Lowe
Ancestors: Family outing to Kilve Beach, 1935
2024
Silk screen and collagraph original print
NFS

I am a printmaker working from Albatross Print

Studio at East Quay. More than half of the work
I have produced in 20 years of practice is inspired
by our coast. The ammonite collagraph plate
was made 8 years ago. The silkscreen images are
scanned from three tiny photos, taken in 1935 on a
family outing to Kilve. Received from my mother in
2004 with a note ‘All your ancestors are in these’.
My personal and professional identities are bound
together in this place, where, in my imagination, six
generations of my family have left their marks in
the stones.

58. Martin Mann

Transition
2023
Acrylic on canvas
£1,250

Transition is the latest in a series of paintings,

meditating on the theme of the identity and fleeting
presents of those fleeing persecution, the displaced
and desperate.
All that remains is the detritus of their arrival in our
consciousness, the foil blanket, a ghost of
their existence.
Transition brings in to sharpe focus the challenges and
aspirations of their journey and the artists need to
reflect it in a world in flux.
More at https://martinkmann.wixsite.com/
martinkmann

59. Sally Baldwin

Lost
Stitched paper
£2,000

I identify with this piece on various levels. It is

constructed of stitched paper, a signature feature of
my art practice. The flowers are large and prolific at
the top and thin out towards the hem, implying the
loss of native flowers as the climate warms. This is a
subject I feel very strongly about. The whiteness of the
robe and the way it is displayed suggest the fragility
and transience not just of the flowers, but of all life. It
makes me think about myself, those who came before
me and those who will continue after me.
60. Sheila Cragg
Navigating Circumstance
2023
Acrylics on canvas
£800

Sheila’s art practice centres around themes of

human presence and our sense of place.
In Navigating Circumstance she is exploring the
challenge to our sense of identity when we find
ourselves in an unknown place or situation. Who are
we now? What will we do? How will we be? Whatever
else, our silhouettes and shadows symbolically
provide reassurance that we are present.

61. Cath O’Leary

Lockdown Monsters
2020
Acrylic on paper collage
NFS

A mixed media artist, I work in an immediate

way with a changing combination of materials.
Often influenced by coast and landscapes, but
also colours, shapes and patterns that I may have
unknowingly filed away in my memory.
However, I found lockdown very difficult and, until
we could meet outdoors I missed my grandkids
and worried they’d think I didn’t care about them.
I get anxious. I was painting or photographing
most days and at some point, the monsters crept
out and I started making pictures for the kids.
Currently I’m beginning to print them. They stayed.

62. Ros Cuthbert

The Triumph of Zoë
2022
Watercolour
£1,050

In painting a portrait of my trans friend I wanted

to explore the pain and joy she described to
me. It is a conventional narrative painting. The
naked male figure suggests the awkwardness of
a ‘wrong’ body, while the supine form beneath
implies the death of her maleness. Christ’s Calvary
is a universal image of suffering, linked by colour
to a circular maze beneath. Her female attendants
are pulled from art history and reference Zoë’s
tattoos; they accompany her on her quest. Finally,
the symbol at the top is a yoni, a symbol for the
Feminine in Tantric art.
63. Lisa Benson
Boxes (HRT)
2024
Collagraph print
£245

As a printmaker I am interested in the interaction

between the printing plate, the ink and the paper.
A collagraph print can allow you to print from an
actual object and in this case the three boxes from
my initial trial of HRT therapy were my starting
point for this plate. There is nothing like getting
your first three boxes of HRT patches to tell you
that you have arrived at a certain stage in your life.
I am a middle-aged stereotype, but I am not just a
middle-aged stereotype.

64. Yuko Edwards

Her Blue Dresses
2017
Photography
£250 (unframed)

Yuko Edwards is an artist whose work addresses

concepts of self and social identity. Her approach
to making pictures involves intertwining personal
narratives within a larger historical context. Her
grandma’s clothes have sat undisturbed in her
house years after her death. The wool suits show
their wear, but the polyester has outlived her. The
colours of these garments remain vibrant and
wearable. In the photograph, Her Blue Dresses,
the artist and her sister are in their grandma’s
clothing, prolonging her memory. Standing
barefoot on her land allows them to feel a sense of
solid rootedness in her story.

65. Patrick Bremer

Madeleine Moment
2023
Cut paper on canvas
£3,250

Patrick uses found images and materials, cutting

and pasting them together to produce intimate and
multi-layered representations of his subjects. Fashion
magazines serve as a reflection of the zeitgeist,
providing a window into the collective consciousness
of a given time. Collage offers a unique way to explore
this relationship between the individual and collective,
the hidden connections and tensions that exist within
us all, and how we are shaped by social and cultural
contexts. Overlapped images, patterns and motifs
push the portrait into abstraction, inviting the viewer
to look closer and find stories within stories.
66. Elaoise Benson
Where The Wood Takes You
2023
Acrylic and soil on canvas
£485

I’m a painter working in Watchet, Somerset. My

practice engages with the liminality of space. Here,
the door of a pigsty reveals a vision of potential,
one unrestricted by the present or future moment.
I find Abstraction is a metaphor for my experience
of being in the world, an experience not made in
an instance, but in the layering of situation and
context. My use of soil-staining on the canvas
ties the work back to the earth, to the soil that
sustains and continues to build new life.

67. Jenny Barron

PAPERS
2024
Watercolour
£1,500

Papers have long been a way of conveying human

identity and despite their bureaucratic nature these
scraps of personal ephemera still form part of the
narrative of our lives. So, following my traditional
theme of still life painting I assembled my own
papers for a watercolour trompe l’oiel composition.
The collection soon grew to include many other
facets of my identity... books, cards, and various
references and reflections of my family and myself.
I became totally immersed in this painting and the
memories and stories it contains
I hope viewers will find it as interesting and
entertaining as I did.

68. Georgina Towler

it’s looking right back at you
2023
Film still on Fine Art paper
£250

it’s looking right back at you captures me taking

a painting for a walk through the landscape that
inspired its creation; exploring the relationship
between paint and painter.
It is understood that every experience we have
is influenced by every experience that has gone
before it; and consequently, a painting will
subconsciously capture an artist’s lifetime within
in. This piece explores whether we can visually
communicate this within the work itself. Can you
see that accumulation of the artist’s practice? Can
you objectify that time, that experience, all those
truthful elements of a place being explored and
relationships being built?
69. Vanessa Clegg
Tabula Rasa: Studio Tabletop/ Notepad
Ongoing
Graphite and various pens on white emulsion on wood
NFS

Tabula Rasa: from the Latin for tablet from which

writing has been erased.
We are in a constant state of flux... re-inventing
ourselves... sloughing off our skins...
erasing the past.
Age changes us... experience changes us... our bodies
change us.
The Work: Ideas are in the form of notebooks &
journals/ writing & photography.
Handmade gesso ( 10/12 layers) forms the base on
which to paint or draw as well
as to sand back… erasing & building over and over again.
Often the greatest beauty lies in the shadows left on
the blank slate.

70. Jackie Crawford

Outlook 2
2024
Oil on Canvas
NFS

This oil painting means a great deal to me. It is

the first spontaneous painting I have done for
five years and the process has filled me with
excitement and joy; it has been like finding my
voice again. I had stopped painting whilst caring
for my husband who has dementia. A recent trip to
Australia and subsequent trips to our moors and
the Somerset coast has inspired and rekindled my
artistic practice.
I can see a way forward; painting and wonderful
colours will once again play a huge part in my life.

71. Gina May Selene

Domestic Violence: 1999-2020, Exhibit 1
2023
Embroidery & appliqué
NFS

Confronted with the silencing and isolation of

domestic abuse, I sought solace through stitching
fragments of other womens’ work into my own. Their
anonymous stitches, from many times and places,
carried the comforting resonance of their voices to me
at times of fear and vulnerability. These palimpsests
of ancient needlework and my own embroidered
words and symbols, pulled the beauty of making
from the ugliness of abuse. These pieces were acts
of hidden defiance and escape. They now stand as
symbols of resilience and survival.
72. Andrew Davey
the cap fits
2024
Mixed media collage
£1,500

the cap fits... identity theft... self... a snapshot

captured on the street.... yours truly?
surveillance and detection.
facial recognition.... misgivings...
unforeseen consequences.
pareidolia.

73. Jo Johnson
Hinkley Power Station
2024
Conte chalk
£350

I have been aware of a strange need to depict

Hinkley Point. I realise this is to do with early
childhood memories of my great grandmother’s
large paintings of nuclear power stations
combined with an ongoing fascination with the
North Somerset coast. I paint and draw using
various mediums, more often my subjects are
landscape/seascape/botanical.

74. Catherine Heard

Custard I’ve Had A Brilliant Idea
2024
Emulsion, acrylic and spray paint on canvas
£1,950

I am a bit of a multidisciplinary artist, although my

background is in painting. I find myself a student
again (MA Fine Art at Central St Martins) after
a couple of decades away from art. My work
normally centres around climate change, but I was
very glad to have this interruption to think about
identity. If I think about my own identity it looks
like a bit of a midlife crisis.
75. Cliff Andrade
but it has, comeu tudo (triptych)
2021
Fine Art Giclée Print on Fine Art paper
£300 (edition of 10)

76. Olana Light

Searching for a Place to Belong W
2023
Photography (series) - print on dibond
£800 per photograph

Light’s work delves into the complexity of identity,

capturing the many layers that make up an
individual’s sense of self. Her ongoing exploration
of finding a sense of belonging and discovering her
place in the world leads her to realize that we are
an integral part of nature. This idea of unity with
nature is central to her work.
Audiences are invited to witness the human
seamlessly merging with the natural world, creating
a collective ‘we-world’ that transcends societal
divisions and offers an inclusive space where
everyone feels a sense of belonging. By freeing
herself from societal norms, Light delves into the
essence of humanity and our place in the universe.

77. Nick Ivins

Mrs Ivins Goes Swimming (or Venus in Neoprene)
2023
Oil on panel from reclaimed shipping crate
£3,500
78. Lola Evelyn Ives
Aura Ether Leyline
2023
Gouache, collage, mirror, wire, paper & embroidery on cotton
£399
I create visual and poetic tools that are inspired by
and partake in the planetary shift to life sustaining
civilisation that we are collectively journeying on. I
explore the materiality and symbolism of object, shape
and imagery. Drawing upon their innate essences to
amalgamate an energetic visual language that desires
to invoke thoughts towards ecological liberation.
This tapestry inquires into the inter-dependant
relationship between the aura of a human, the ether
of the planet and the ley lines of the land. Exploring
shape to map a sense of our collective identity as
one whole animate entity, whilst playing with micro-
macro perspectives. Utilising the boundaries of one
design principle to explore a concept which is equally as
complex as it is simple, has been central to this process.

79. Biying Cao

Secret Love
2022
Mixed media
£500

My art practice explores the intricate layers of

human emotions and cultural nuances. Secret Love
delves into the complexities of identity through
the lens of romantic relationships, particularly in
Chinese culture. By embedding coded messages
within the artwork, I evoke questions about
memory, nostalgia, and the enduring impact of
past connections on individual identity. Through
digital art, I reinterpret traditional symbols to
convey universal themes of love and loss, inviting
viewers to contemplate their own experiences
and perceptions of identity within the context of
intimate relationships.

80. Jane Robbins

That Feeling
2010
Black and white photography
NFS

It could be shame, ecstasy, fear, abandonment or

pain to name a few. A feeling that takes over your
entire body that you feel it in every inch of your skin.
That feeling — everyone has experienced it.
For many years, I experienced self body-shaming
and was not able to look into a full length mirror. I
was able to capture this feeling from my perspective
with the model you see in the photograph.
Black and white photography is timeless, so this
reflects a past emotion for me but sadly shows
how some people are feeling right now.
81. Lisa Takahashi
I Rather Like A Pickled Egg With My Fish And Chips
2024
Ink on Kozo
£185
My whole life I’ve told people I’m half Japanese,
half English. The Japanese word to describe mixed-
race people with some Japanese heritage is hafu,
meaning ‘half’. But I don’t want to be half this,
half that anymore. Rightly, the way mixed heritage
people can describe their nationality has evolved,
to say ‘dual heritage’ instead; to be this, but also
that. This exhibition has been an opportunity for
me to express my Japanese-ness, but also my
Englishness. It’s a Japanese expression of a very
English-rooted truth.
This is me; pleased to meet you! /

82. Xinyi Yang

Who I am II
2023
Watercolour
NFS

Who I am? is Xinyi’s watercolor series at the end

of 2022. After experiencing life in China and UK.
she started to question herself: “Who I am ?’”
What do I want?”. Under the Chinese societal and
ideological framework, finding a stable job and
starting a family seems like the only destiny for
east asian women. But after you stepped outside
this environment, she discovered a multitude
of possibilities, at the same time leaving her
directionless. She yearns for her captive self to
break free, even if it means tearing apart and
enduring pain.

83. Shelley Dyer-Gibbins

Damage
2022
Linocut & spraypaint
£1,200