ELEVENSES
Since time immemorial, ritual has been central to human life All our knowledge of cultures past and present points to ritualistic behaviour as a necessary component of human social formation Birth, death, war, peace; the important, memorable moments of our individual and collective lives are so very frequently marked by specific practices repetitively performed. Religion, politics, popular culture; all these are accretions of ritual built over varied and overlapping timescales, and overlapping to drive humanity forward, producing novel social and cultural forms that we perceive as change.
Yet, although ritual is undeniably foundational to our species, it is living memory which has seen the swiftest and perhaps most sweeping changes to its nature Specifically, with the development of communications technology, and the rise of the internet, ritual in the twenty-first century is networked to an absolutely unprecedented degree
Take religion for example For hundreds, if not thousands of years, adherents to the world’s major religions have putatively worshipped in the same way, using the same texts Yet, meet any academic scholar of the Bible or Qur’an and they will impress upon you the importance of the printing press in standardising religious practice. This says nothing of the elements of worship that do not come from holy books. Think about the state of the world in, say, 1760 at the advent of the Industrial Revolution. Do you really think that the worship of Christians in Yorkshire and Bahia State was the same? Even between two villages in the new Emirate of Diriyah one’s experiences would have greatly differed
Now think of today Information is shared at incomprehensible speed Lives can be lived side by side with space collapsed into near insignificance Tens of billions of hours of live content are consumed each year Ramadan has a countdown clock We wake up together, we eat together, we wash together, we shop together, we fuck together On Tiktok, multiple generations gather on strict schedules to collectively manifest better lives for themselves American tweens are grasping at their parents’ wallets to keep up with the latest trends in grooming routines. All over the world people show out en masse in ardent support of football clubs which were birthed from local workers’ teams in countries thousands of miles away. This is uncharted territory.
From ancient rituals which have taken new shape in the age of the internet, to new rituals designed to alleviate the anxieties of life in the 21st century, we have invited artists to share their experiences and observations of this uniquely human behaviour
It is our hope that visitors to the exhibition will be led to ponder the place that ritual takes in their own lives, and how it captures both the mundanity and wonder of what it means to be alive
Why do we do what we do?
Why do you hate Sundays? Why is teatime at 4 o’clock? Why do you cry every Christmas? Why can’t you go to the club without going to pre-drinks first? Why can you talk to your barber but not to your wife?
We hope these works will offer you routes to re-evaluate your relationship to yourself, the people you know, and the people you will never meet but whose lives endlessly parallel yours.
Hana Aarow (he/they)
b. 2003 Scotland
Hana Aarow is an intermedia artist based in Glasgow, currently finishing their third year of study in Fine Art Photography at the Glasgow School of Art. Aarow is interested in creating a vibrant and exciting world through his artwork and particularly enjoys the topics of rock and roll music, religion and spirituality He has been involved with various projects while at art school, but this will be the first time his work is displayed outside of Glasgow.
This is My Religion, 2024
Installation of fabricated religious objects
170 x 170 cm (wall) 54 x 56 cm (table)
Pocket Shrines - Hand and machine sewn using mixed found materials
Altar cloth - Hand and machine sewn using mixed materials including cyanotypes
Scapular - Hand and machine sewn using cyanotypes and felted with black wool
Devotional image - Mixed media painting over light up frame
Incense holder - Air dry clay decorated with acrylic paint
Wall hanging - Hand and machine sewn using lace and a cyanotype
Vestments - Hand and machine sewn using satin, tulle, and recycled materials
Prayer cards - Digital collages printed and laminated
Doubleneck guitar
Cassette player
Cassette tape - Audio collage, outside decorated with mixed media
Altar box - Pre-made wooden box decorated with acrylic paint
This high concept project is aimed at creating a functional religion around the artists’ special interest, Jimmy Page This is achieved through the fabrication of religious objects around this subject, which facilitate religious behaviours ranging from spur of the moment prayer to more elaborate worship The display created here in the gallery is a collation of these objects into an expanded altar which can be worshipped at Craft is emphasised within the pieces, which showcase a variety of disciplines
Ben Adamson (he/him)
b 1999 UK
Ben Adamson is a multimedia and sound artist and musician, based in London, focussing on the composition of soundscapes using the musical capabilities of unconventional and non-musical objects and environments, with the intention to develop a relationship between performance, sculpture and soundscape design
@h aarowOne of the main interests in his installation and sound design work is the nature of participation for audiences as performers and listeners Provocation is something that is of the utmost importance throughout his work, where the beauty often comes from the harshest, most contrasting sounds or actions, but with a greater purpose of providing a question to the listener about their understanding of a space, object or theme.
Sound (Bathing), 2024
Metal, wood, plastic
100 x 100 x 130 cm
Sound (Bathing) is an interactive sound sculpture made up of a water container, Tibetan singing bowl, mallet and noise cancelling headphones. The piece focuses on dilution and bastardisation of spirituality within modern Western culture, through the participation and play of audience members with the sound sculpture. Audience members should put on the noise cancelling headphones before playing and dipping the singing bowl into the water Their ‘performance’ will be heard by those around them but not clearly by themselves, representing the way spirituality and ritual can be performative and augmented to fit Western tastes. The aim for this sound sculpture is to create new rituals through investigative play for each participant and any observers in the space The water element of this piece, while playing a key role in distorting the resonance of the singing bowl, also acts as a quasi-religious symbol of cleanliness, baptism and spiritual submersion.
Beyond playing and dipping the singing bowl, there is no ‘wrong’ way to interact with the sound sculpture and this gives the participant freedom to play and experience the sculpture any way they like, and also making every interaction with the sculpture unique and all observations of it unique.
@ben adamson66
Sharon Anatole (she/her) b 2001 UK
Sharon Anatole is an ‘informal anthropologist‘ whose audiovisual ethnographies delve into the intricate tapestry of our kaleidoscopic digital age Sharon invites viewers to contemplate the nuanced intersections of culture, technology, and humanity
Girls Online and Online Girls, 2024
Digital video
01:20
This erratic, overwhelming and volatile audiovisual ethnography delves into the intricate realm of 'girlhood' in digital spaces, examining the ritualistic behaviours and social dynamics that shape online identities Through an anthropological kaleidoscope, it explores the dichotomy between "girls online" and "online girls," uncovering how rituals of connectivity and identity construction manifest within digital communities By delving into the interplay of technology, identity, and repetitive social behaviours, the visualiser hopes to provide insight into the broader cultural implications of incessant online engagement
@sharonfromhr
Yuma Burgess (he/him)
b UK
Yuma Burgess is a visual artist who creates ethereal objects that seem both ancient and futuristic. Combining archaic symbolism with modern technology, Burgess’ works upset the perceived rationality of contemporary life, and the assumed infinity of the internet Gazing upon these objects, the viewer is reminded of the inherent finality and presentness of human life, as if witnessing the current moment from both the past and future simultaneously
Untitled, 2023
3D printed lenticular tablets
Each 32 x 32 cm
Luyin Cao (she/her)
b 1996 China
Luyin Cao is a contemporary sculptor based in London Educated at the Slade School of fine art, Luyin makes sculptures that are a mix of cartoonish, childlike and melancholic She likes to work with raw materials, lacquer, ceramics, wood, and fibres and often wants to work with crafts In terms of the aesthetics of the works in Luyin Cao‘s artistic practice, she wants to create "melancholic fairytales", which create a paradoxical atmosphere by adopting the aesthetics of children's picture books to express themes of coldness, cruelty, and sadness She always draws inspiration from specific events and relates them to her own childhood experiences, trying to evoke universal human emotions through her work.
A Shrine, the Fertility, and the Power, 2024
Chinese lacquer, baby cellular blankets, muslin squares, waste thread
300 x 300 x 400 cm
A Shrine, the Fertility, and the Power critically examines China's evolving fertility policy, considering how state power alienates the act of procreation, re-figuring it as an act of labour in line with its own biopolitical agendas
The work takes the form of a fairytale-like shrine, inspired by a friend of the artist who introduced her to the English word "enshrine," which means to place something in a shrine and give it legal or moral significance. Here, Cao invites the viewer to reflect on the irony of glorifying fertility-as-responsibility By juxtaposing the fairytale with the bureaucratic, Cao symbolically undermines the notion of fertility as a wholly biological process, acknowledging that it is given a specific legal and moral weight.
The work incorporates a performative element; the viewer can participate in the polishing of the lacquerware, thus becoming physically and symbolically engaged in the constant change of the work. As the lacquerware gradually becomes smoother, the water is gradually stained red, and the body becomes stiff and tired The
@yumaburgess
participant’s experience thus echoes the sacrifices of biopower, the repetitive and violent capture of women’s fertility by government policy Through self-inflicted violence, the audience is incorporated into the work in a ritualised expression that underscores the primacy of rituals in social and cultural structures and how these shape and define individual behaviour.
Orla Carolin (she/her)
b 1998 UK
London Papers collage i (Ghost Receipt, Matrix Receipt)
Focus Lotto
London Papers Collage ii (Swerve Receipt, Debbies’s Stars i , Debbie’s stars ii)
All works from London Papers Series, 2023
Photo transfer and acrylic on artists paper in artists frames
Each 30.5 x 30.5 x 4 cm
Ran over on Denmark Hill, 2024
Screen print on cartridge paper
34 x 46 cm
Sarah Catterall (she/they)
b USA
Sarah Catterall is an Oxford based multimedia artist who uses a confessional approach to curate sights, sounds and moments from everyday life. Through participatory installations, Catterall invites the listener to transport themselves to another place in time through soundscapes, printmaking and collaged material from their personal archive
All Recordings, 2022-2023
Installation of chair, modified magazine rack, risograph printed booklets and artist's book, lamp, fabric from the artist’s grandmother's closet, safety pins, headphones and mobile phone
244 x 122 x 91 cm
“All Recordings are the result of my compulsion to hoard hours of environmental sound Be transported to the toilets in an American baseball stadium or in Yosemite National Park at night with my sisters or in the cafe of Leeds Art Gallery or playing the piano at home in Sheffield In some cases, the situations recorded are more curated - interviews with my grandmother before she died, relaying my weird dreams, practicing lines for a play - but in others, they are simply reminders of a time and place which are dear and specific to me A practice of recording is my personal ritual, and a way for me to return. All Recordings is exhaustive and it is impossible to listen to the playlist in its entirety as it’s completely unfiltered
@luyincao @orlawcarolinPlease see one of the All Recordings leaflets and the A4 book attached to the magazine rack to get a complete guide You can touch the screen to select a recording which interests you, and you can sit here as long as you wish
@sarahcatterall
Jiayi Chen (she/they) b. 1998
Jiayi Chen harnesses the power of visual storytelling to illuminate the beauty, complexity, and resilience of queer identities ,capturing intimate moments and emotions that are a reflection of her lived experiences as a member of her communities.
With each photograph, Jiayi encourages audiences to reimagine their understanding of eternity and to embrace the fluidity of identity and expression.
Beyond photography and film, Jiayi Chen channels her creative energy into immersive performance art that celebrates Nüshu, the only female script exclusively used by women. Reimagining this lost language, she empowers women and amplifies their voices in a world that too often silences them
Missing Her, 2024 Photographic prints
The sky for women is low and their wings are thin I want to fly meanwhile I feel like I will fall
Written for her on her by her Performance
Nüshu, also called "Women's Script," is a unique language created and used exclusively by women in Hunan Province, China, for centuries to communicate Chinese in a world where they were excluded from education This secret language is like a miracle born from tears and sunshine
It is a unique language as a gendered script It is invented and used by women only Women cannot get education so they don’t know how to write down their feelings and sufferings. As a result, Nüshu is invented for them to communicate with each other secretly
In this performance, Jiayi wishes to voice for women who used to be required to keep silent and obedient towards their arranged suffering
@overelated
leon clowes (he/they)
b 1970 UK
leon clowes is an older white working-class queer transdisciplinary artist with mental health issues and in addiction recovery 2020, leon’s artworks have featured in/been commissioned by Druskomanija, SUPERNORMAL, SPILL and Deptford X arts/music festivals, Frieze Art Fair, Cafe Oto, WORM Rotterdam, Queer Art Projects, Disability Arts Online, Margate Pride, Queer Contemporaries, Datscha Radio Berlin and Britten Pears Arts
A 2022-23 Associate Artist of Open School East, leon is an artist researcher who collaborates with Dr Cathy Sloan, and working curatorially with international groups and artists, leon is using lived experience to help run the national Addiction Recovery Arts Network
nesting, 2023
Video installation 09:00
The Alcoholic’s Tarot, 2023 Interactive performance
In healing and of hurting, we repress because we repeat, and forget because we repeat, as, when days of future past are present, it is secrets that make us sick. Shame only dies on exposure.
nesting is a continuation of leon’s transdisciplinary praxis, building on an audio-visual installation created for the Open School East 2023 Associate Artist exhibition We Danced Until There Was Nothing Left, curated with Maggie Matic
Through confessional actions of self-compassion, leon invites Elevenses visitors to pull cards from The Alcoholic's Tarot Drawing on recovery wisdom, and a year long enquiry into the normalization of alcohol use in UK society, leon will read your addiction fate while explaining the path taken to reach here, now
The hand is the actor of love and violence. It inflicts, and it is also tender in its touch. By continual bandage wrapping, this is the spiralling out of control during active addiction, and the perpetually evolving process of the becoming state of recovery These rituals are never done
The nesting film was shot and directed by zack mennell
@leonclowes
Kofi D. Couston (he/him)
b 1999 Ghana
Kofi D. Couston is a multi-disciplinary artist raised in Italy and based in London, UK. Apart from screenwriting Kofi, also known as Dechie, has composed a number of scores and pieces of sound for various projects He initially started making scores while in university for friends Now, just a few years later, he has begun delving into writing his own films and other forms of visual media to accompany his soundtracks.
Rituals, 2023
Short film
07:24
Rituals is an editorial/short film that captures the typically ignored monotonous movements that are not given attention It follows the daily monotonous movements made by a person in the morning, which are also known as their morning rituals. These rituals are represented by an individual or a couple, symbolizing a unit and how they react to their morning
@dechiewhy
Ethan & Tom b. UK
Meeting at the University of Westminster in 2017, where they both studied a Film BA degree, Ethan & Tom began making music videos for friends who produced music. One such music video for band Badgirl$ caught the interest of Sony Music, which led to a series of music videos
In 2020 their work for Flohio’s ‘WAY2’ was nominated for a UKMVA. and in 2022 their work for Wulu's 'Ten' won Best Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Newcomer at the prestigious show
They have since gone on to direct commercials with The North Face, Toyota and Nicholas Daley. The pair are currently writing and working towards making narrative work
BEE MOVIE, 2024
Short film
04:03
Smaller animals tend to perceive time as if it is passing in slow motion, a new study has shown
Insects and small birds, for example, can see more information in one second than a larger animal such as an elephant
In humans, too, there is variation among individuals Athletes, for example, can often process visual information more quickly. An experienced goalkeeper would therefore be quicker than others in observing where a ball comes from
"Younger people can react more quickly than older people, and this ability falls off further with increasing age ”
@ethanandtom
Elif Gönen (she/her)
b. 1999 Turkey
Elif Gönen, a Turkish photographer and filmmaker based in London, explores family dynamics, youth, and identity in her work. Graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2022, her portfolio has been featured in Rolling Stone Magazine, the British Film Institute, Fred Perry, Nike, and more.
Untitled, 2017-2023
Photographic prints
6 x A2
These works are a series of beginnings and endings, departures and returns In this series of photos, Elif Gönen shows an attention to possibility that stems deeply from her queer sensibilities. These images, although warm and vital, raise questions: What will this child’s life look like? How long have this couple been apart? Where does the sun go when it falls beyond the horizon? Gönen is able to offer us meaning in the unknowns of the lives of her subjects, their becomings and will-do’s. In turn we’re given the chance to reflect on our own lives, and the moments of possibility we ourselves experience
@elifgonen
Pietro Gorini (he/him)
b 1999 Italy
Pietro Gorini is a London-based Italian artist Born in Faenza, Italy, in 1999, he is an alumnus of the Fine Art Academy of Bologna (Italy), Northumbria University in Newcastle upon Tyne (UK), Camberwell College of Arts (UK), and Central Saint Martins (UK) He has exhibited in his hometown at Circolo ARCI Prometeo and Clan Destino, Southwark Park Galleries in London, and was a member of a group of students from MA Fine Arts that organized a series of flash, independent art exhibitions across Central Saint Martins
To Worship (Katya and Sasha), 2024
Carbon, crayons, oil pastels, golden ink, and gouache watercolours on coloured cardboard 84 x 60 cm
This drawing depicts two women, Sasha and Katya, in the act of performing their morning routine of some yoga stretches They exercise on a stage, the base of a strange altar, and they rejoice in hearing their joints crack in exquisite, hollow noises The burning sensation of their limbs, newly rid of a nightly torpor, gives them immense pleasure, and from it stems an overwhelming feeling of possibility: they can now do anything that pleases them for as long as they do not fall asleep
Once they rest, the spell breaks
Underneath, an army of devotees revere these awoken marvels as they witness their physical prowess. How far they can stretch! And how long they can last! And such bendable limbs! Like those of that Japanese mecha-toy you forgot underneath your dad’s car’s windshield, melting in the sun of 2007’s scorching summer! You threw that away afterwards, but they wouldn’t have
Those creatures would have thought better
The two women’s display makes them ecstatic, and they worship them; as they should.
@quelcazzochevipare
Kandre Arámidẹ Hassan (she/her) b 2001 Nigeria
Kandre Arámidẹ Hassan, is a visual artist and cultural strategist from South London. Specialising in figurative paintings, drawings and poetry, her work challenges the limit of what lived and embodied experiences can look like in an exploration of neo surrealism, transcending you into her subconscious and synesthetic dreamscapes.
With a distinctive style emanating from her heritage as a Nigerian diaspora woman and deep intrigue in the supernatural, typical themes you’ll find across her work are notions of ritual, folklore, inter-generation & ancestry, the intermittence of pain and healing & continuously unmasking discoveries we make in our connections with self, others and space
Aunty Emeze’s Garden, 2024
Oil, acrylic, pastels & ink on calico
80 x 100 cm
Parma Violets & Hibiscus Tea, 2024
Oil, acrylic, pastels & ink on calico
36 x 45 cm
Into the Forbidden Forest, 2024
Oil, oil pastel, and acrylic on canvas
50 x 50 cm
Moonlight Discos in the Compound, 2024
Oil, oil pastel, and acrylic on canvas
23 x 30 cm
I don’t get hayfever in lavender fields, 2024
Oil, oil pastel, and acrylic on canvas
20 x 20 cm
These pieces form part of the artist’s ongoing ‘Fearful Intimacies’ collection, an ongoing series of works exploring fear and love as mutually constitutive In both form and content, this series is emblematic of Hassan’s holistic practice, and the attention to continuity in her work
The central work, Aunty Emeze’s Garden, is inspired by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel Purple Hibiscus, and evokes the garden as a symbol of feminine power and perseverance The bold use of colour and organic forms, the foregrounding of the female body in the landscape; Hassan’s imagery serves to acknowledge the perenniality of feminine wisdom. Each garden must be tended with love.
The supporting pieces expand details present in the central work Recalling snippets of her life - gifts exchanged between friends, the recurring themes of Nollywood films, moments of parallel between life in Nigeria and the UK, the soothing properties of lavender - Hassan’s holism is clear in these smaller works Like seeds in a field that grow together, Hassan depicts life and love as an interconnected process of change.
Kocha (they/them)
b 1998 UK
Ghost in a Shell, 2024
Photography and AI mixed media print
84 x 60 cm
The ritual of understanding oneself through suffering and pleasure has been a longstanding question and quest throughout Kocha's turbulent childhood and adolescence At times, through immense pain, they became closer to pleasure, and vice versa
With an often shifting sense of self, these rituals or quests of suffering and pleasure have become a means for their self or 'ghost' to experience their own shell They have endeavoured to illuminate this through their practice by fusing man-made materials with artificial ones, constructing a dialogue that encompasses motion, experience, religion, magic, ghosts, machines, self, pain, and pleasure, recognising no boundaries between these themes Understanding themselves more as a ghost yearning to experience themselves through an epilogue of the invisible
Kocha concludes this with, " To be Created is to be Destroyed, to be Destroyed is to be Created"
@koch a
@k africanaJulian Konuk (he/they)
b 1988 USA
Julian Konuk is a transdisciplinary filmmaker, photographer, and experimental writer based in London. His work has been shown internationally throughout the UK, France, USA, the Netherlands, and Switzerland Recent notable exhibitions and screenings include Somerset House, the Barbican, Les Rencontres d'Arles 2023, Fringe! Queer Film Fest 2020-2023, and Bermondsey Project Space. Selected writing pieces were recently published in Mourning, with Sticky Fingers Publishing, Carrion Press, as well as the limited edition art book, “With No Orbit ” He holds a masters degree in photography from the Royal College of Art, where he was the recipient of the New Photography Prize 2023, judged by Hana Noorali with the support of Simon Bishop.
From the Ground With Love, 2023
Moving image with archival footage
22:40
What is the relationship between horror and queerness? Between pain and pleasure? Between death and erotics? Between a hole and a grave? "From the Ground With Love" is an episodic nonlinear short film that focuses on building a trans-poetic approach to both written, auditorial and visual language Experimenting with themes of queer bodily abjection, notions of home and migration, and heterosexist spacialities, this film explores the relationship between queer temporalities of life and death, this relation to the cinema of horror, and creating new modes of eroticism that center trans bodies and the lived archival experience of queer monstrosity and sex How might we come to view the trans lived experience as a ritual in its own right? Of perpetually growing up over and over again, and then again; time ceases to exist on a linear line, instead expanding and fragmenting normative notions of daily and ceremonial practices. The trans body itself becomes a vessel to understand new modes of thinking and communicating lived and unlived memory
@video jockey
Taja Lewis (she/her) b 1999 UK
Taja Lewis is a documentary photographer whose work explores movement, connection and memory In her practice, she aims to accentuate how these feelings intersect the personal and public space
Turn off the light when you go, 2016
Framed photographic prints
124 x 93 cm
Turn off the light when you go is a series of photographs from 2016, taken a few months after my grandma's passing It is an exploration of how grief is entangled with the burden of documentation, representation and preservation.
I just remember feeling like I should do it. Although my tears were fresh and eyes blurry as I looked through the viewfinder, I felt compelled to Because you should When someone dies you should make sure that they are remembered
The death of my grandmother was a death of my family as I knew it Soon we would have to sell the house & our family traditions would no longer have their person nor their hub
Rooms inhabit so much, until they don't. Under the surface they are forever embedded with lives lived and lives lost Like us, they are a temporary canvas - here for as long as they can be until they are made anew again
I don't think I've ever looked into a room the same since
We may not have my gran nor her house anymore, but through these she sits somewhere in between. A middle place where she is gone, but no longer lost
@tajalewisb
Patricia Wanying Lolu (she/her)
b 2000 Venezuela
Patricia Wanying Lolu is a Venezuelan projection artist and animator based in London. She explores Caribbean folklore material culture and ritual art through mapping animation and handcrafted installation Her visual works primarily tap into the rich cultural significance of Venezuela
The Dancing Devils of Chuao, 2024
Wool, lace fabric, yarn, digital projection
155 x 148 cm
The Dancing Devils of Chuao is an animation projection immersive installation, originating from a religious festival of Corpus Christi in Venezuela. The textile is embellished with traditional folkloric props (cowbell, lace and yarn). The narrative focuses on the peasant cosmology and postcolonial cultural legacy inscribed in the rituals of Chuao, with popular religiosity, devotion and detached faith.
@patricia wanyinglolu
Beth McAlester (she/her)
b 2003 Northern Ireland
Beth McAlester is a Northern Irish artist based in London, England, where she is currently pursuing her BFA at the Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, 2022-2025. She completed her Foundation in Art and Design at the University of the Arts London CCW and has exhibited in numerous group shows including Threading the Eye at the Crypt Gallery and Fluid Realities in collaboration with Art Ascend at Earl’s Court Gallery In 2023
McAlester was awarded The Painters Stainers’ Company Scholarship as well as the ‘Fevers, Frets, and Futures’ Visual Arts Prize at the Association for Medical Humanities Annual international conference
Neither Here Nor There, 2024
Oil on canvas
60 x 90 cm
Say Nothing, 2024
Charcoal and graphite powder on unstretched Irish linen
115 x 160 cm
Perhaps the most striking element of Beth McAlester’s works are the faces of her subjects. Ranging from soft-edged to nearly featureless, McAlester’s subjects seem caught in their own highly localised weather systems of fog or mist In a way they are; one of the artist’s primary concerns is memory, in particular its subjectivity and fallibility. Coupled with a discomfort in the voyeuristic action of depicting faces, this produces almost ghostly beings that confess their contextuality and seem to shift and morph the longer one looks at them
Growing up Catholic in a Protestant area, McAlester has a deep understanding of contrast, and the discomfort of juxtaposed truths Neither Here Nor There, based on a poem written by her father about his disillusionment with the Protestant community of his upbringing is characteristic of this sensitivity The young man seems to lift from the canvas, made luminous by his internal glow. In the background loom the hulking shapes of bare trees and a fortified building, a flag faded but persistent sitting atop
These powerful works recognise the unifying power of community, yet acknowledge the risk of isolation for those who cannot convincingly perform their roles. McAlester is brave enough to confront the uncertainty of her home country, and the unfinishedness of its identities and histories
@bethmcalester
Kira Sun McCarthy (she/her) b 1998 UK
Kira Sun McCarthy is a visual artist based in London whose practice utilises painting, photography and film to bring to light the power and potential of feminine love and female relationships Whether they may be sexual or platonic, exploring how the ubiquitous nature of technology acts to undermine these bonds is evermore important when living in a capitalist and patriarchal world Kira believes female connections are an incredibly crucial aspect of survival against modern-day society, due to their uncompromising ability to provide nurture, safety, love and a sense of belonging. By portraying scenes of simultaneous intimacy and disconnect, Kira believes such visual conflicts are needed to urge the viewer to question what happens when these crucial alliances are tested
Feuds and Faith, 2022
Video installation on 14” television
Feuds and Faith is a video piece which depicts two girls on their phones who are simultaneously close yet disconnected Lying in bed, their bodies physically engage and overlap but they are constantly staring at their screens. There is a sense of unhappiness and longing, yet undeniable comfort and love within their friendship This film touches on the ubiquitous nature of technology amidst female relationships Following the theme of 'rituals', questioning whether our daily habits may or may not always be healthy starts with our devices Our phones are what we begin and end most days with, and if not used with caution they can start to dictate our rituals for us. They are given our attention of the highest calibre, which we have come to accept into our daily lives even at the detriment of our human relationships
@kirasunart
Cosima von Moreau (she/her) b 2000 UK
Cosima von Moreau is a London based sculptor Her work is primarily inspired by the repetition found within the shapes of nature, highlighting the microscopic and exploring the fantasy and surreal ecosystems that exist but are beyond our line of sight everyday.
Opening, 2024
Serpent’s Final State, 2024
Oblivion, 2024
All soft porcelain and resin on paper
Each 60 x 84 cm
This series of works explores the idea of ritual practice Each of these works were made using the same shape; I wanted to explore how one shape can be used to create different images. Each work has hundreds of the same shapes, all of which I make by hand, in this process I enter an almost trance-like state within the repetition Opening: This piece is inspired by the dynamic behaviour of fish schools, particularly the moments when they form a circular opening amidst their frenzied movements. The circle in the centre symbolises a concentrated energy, a collective force contained within the group Serpent's final state: In contrast, this work embodies the dispersal and exhaustion of energy, likened to a serpent's final moments The dwindling numbers and scattered forms depict the end of life, a phase of energy depletion and cessation. Oblivion: Representing the transition to a new stage, Oblivion explores the metamorphosis of organic shapes, symbolising the transformation and evolution of energy It reflects your personal interpretation of what occurs to one's energy as it transcends to the next level Each piece in this series not only visually narrates different stages of life and energy but also underscores the meditative and transformative power of repetitive artistic practice
@cosimavonmoreau
Samuel Clarice Mui (any pronouns)
b 1997 Malaysia
Samuel Clarice Mui Shen Ern is an interactive narrative and game designer with a speciality in decolonial narratives, worldbuilding, and emergent play Their work is founded on integration of eastern mysticism, indigenous philosophizing, and decolonial approaches to interrogate authoritarian systems of knowledge and create new, liberating modes of reality. He believes that play can be used to renew the self’s relationship with time, space, memory, and pain - ultimately providing a way of healing for the fragmented self She is also the writer and designer of several works such as Horse Girl (2023), Capitalites (2024), and Lumen Ryder Core (2025).
Multiagent Nonlinear Progression Algorithm
Performance
This participatory performance piece implements human agents in an emergent complex adaptive generative system of behavioural algorithms as if they are nodes in a machine learning neural network To do this, each participant is given one of the following prompts to interpret in any way they wish in and perform it accordingly. The resulting performance is an indeterministic exploration of generative play, where simple, open-ended prompts and instructions lead to complex and sprawling ‘narratives’ where player-agents cluster together and drift apart, forming an ever shifting, rhizomatic weave of interconnected threads
@babblegumsam
Devika Pararasasinghe (she/her)
b. 1998 UK
Devika’s practice deals with[in] the working-class [invisible]-labour ecosystem[s] and [invisible]-reproductive labours, giving into the visuals between low-fi and high-art aesthetic scenarios. She is interested in a counter to the instructional bias of how we handle the trades of the classed-colloquial, the cont[r]acts of labour, waged/unwaged, acknowledged/disavowed, and where it fits in the cycles of consumption, exploitation, and [re]production. Writing is an act of monological autonomy and re-narrativising, poetry a feeder to contend with cavernous institutional spaces whilst also being intimate works of her labour. Devika graduated in 2022 with a research MFA at Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford
doesn’t know where it begins or ends, 2024
Printer ink, air dry clay, paper, and canvas
49 x 40 cm
34 x 42 cm
20 x 44 cm
17 x 28 cm
23 x 44 cm
no desire to perform, 2023
Oil pastels and PVA glue on found wood panels.
15 5 x 15 5 cm
16 5 x 20 5 cm
heavenly bodies mar it, 2024 – ongoing series
Polymer clay, pastels, chalk, leafing size, and PVA glue displayed in a terracotta saucer
42 x 3 x 21 cm
a calling card, 2024
Air dry clay, receipts, leafing size, PVA glue, and archival ink, displayed in a terracotta saucer.
42 x 3 x 21 cm
Found in the walls, 2024
Air dry clay, graphite, card, printer ink, and found frame
24.5 x 19.5 x 18 cm
Another rub about you, 2024
Air dry clay, graphite, chalk marker, and PVA glue displayed in a terracotta saucer
Diameter 23cm
a lot of life with little [2024]
Polymer clay, air dry clay, conte pencil, nail varnish, and PVA glue Doily, leafing size, eyeshadow, and PVA glue
Diameter 38 cm
This work rounds the ritual but folds at the impetuous mark
These are a few poems I have written this past year. I write poems about my life, home, and the days lived in ritual one after another Words hold things, story-telling is a bag, and poems are the lived-in feelings that tell of the people I have shared space with
The sculptural objects settled here are modes of address to an audience that might not show Laid back and broken down, a calling card to be there
//staring into space, where there is no language
Smoked in, unable to look away any lingering opacity to announce my presence, the impetuous mark, the slow-growing perception of learning the expression on your face
This line of totality Where ends barely touch, but hang close, on the moment before it became a language for you and me
your alphabet algebra, your resignation to mediating this, and negotiating that The immediacy of these meetings was contained in a sheet of paper
@devika pararasasinghe
Shunny Kim & Taewan Kim
b. 2000 & 1996, South Korea
Shunny Kim (she/her) is a Korean Canadian animator and artist based in London Her work uses colourful and playful drawings that befriends imaginative characters She often works with themes of culture, humour and fantasy.
Taewan Kim (he/him), known as mogrillcoke, is Korean animator and illustrator based in London He visualises the imaginative worlds inside his brain using micro details He prioritises world building through concept design and character design, creating atmospheres of Sci- Fi and Fantasy. He currently is interested in more diverse ranges of experimental animation and is looking to further his journey as an artist attempting various mediums
Holiday to Holiday (A), Holiday to Holiday (B), 2023-2024
Pencil, crayon, and graphite on printer paper
Dimensions
@seayawn @mo grill coke
Sid & Jim
b UK
Sid and Jim are a London based collaboration making artworks that materialise in many different forms They have previously produced films, sculptures, paintings, and curated exhibitions which call attention to otherwise overlooked elements of our daily lives Their work is often influenced by fictional tropes and recognisable motifs within popular culture They use invisibility and comedy to propose situations and start stories for the viewer to invent or complete, encouraging them to fill the gaps and build their own narrative.
Torrential Cloud Seeding, 2023
EVA foam, 3D printed PLA and plastic piping
225 x 80 x 80 cm
Torrential Cloud Seeding reflects upon humanity's complex relationship with the elements and the rituals we create in our quest for control Resembling brushes found in drive-through car washes and presenting as a totem pole-like structure, this piece symbolizes humanity's endeavor to manipulate weather patterns Thus prompting contemplation on contemporary rituals related to technological interventions in nature. Viewers are invited to touch the brush and encouraged to reflect on the implications of humanity's pursuit of weather control along with the rituals that accompany such endeavors
Priceless
, 2023
3D Printed PLA plastic, plaster, twine, hagstones
25 x 20 x 8 cm
Priceless contemplates the enduring significance of ancient folklore and its manifestations in contemporary rituals The artwork features a selection of hag stones housed within a small cupboard in the style of a seaside cottage Each stone, naturally adorned with holes, carries with it centuries of ritual folklore, from healing snake bites to revealing the true nature of witches and fairies. Viewers are invited to open the cupboard and examine the hag stones, allowing reflection upon the enduring significance of ancient folklore and its manifestations in contemporary rituals
@sid smith @jimbicknellknight
Jack Sproston (he/him)
b. 2002 UK
Jack Sproston, b 2002 in Stoke-on-Trent, is a London-based artist working predominantly with photography and film. Exploring ideas of community, relationships and absurdity, Sproston’s work is balanced upon the delicate tightrope between fiction and reality.
Nordic Pilgrims, 2023
Short film
Spruce table with embedded screen, CRT Monitor, spruce frame with mounted print
Installation 120 x 90 cm
The Stoke City Supporters Branch Norway hosts over 800 members. They have been making frequent pilgrimages to the holy soil of Stoke-on-Trent since 1996 ‘Nordic Pilgrims’ is a body of work documenting the rituals of this unlikely group of Norwegian Stoke City FC fans; from the Stoke City themed pub in the heart of Oslo, to the Bet365 Stadium 1000km to the south.
@jacksproston
Rachel Stevenson (she/her)
b 2000 UK
Rachel Stevenson is a mixed media artist based in SE England. Her current practice explores the concept of inheritance, translated through metaphors of magic and allegory
Touch Wood, 2024
Oak table, satin ribbon
53 x 45 x 38 cm
Did you know touching wood to prevent tempting fate is the most commonly followed superstition in the uk? One study found that more people admit to performing this act is higher than the percentage that consider themselves to be superstitious
I tap the nearest wood object to me and recite the words ‘touch wood’ about twice a day, maybe more I deem it to be a catch-all spell that exempts me from any fate jinxing Malinowski's anxiety ritual theory is the best explanation for my compulsion, it offers a sense of control over my life. I imagine it's why this form of apotropaic magic is so popular, we fear our fate even when we don't believe in fate. We're forced to perform an ancient ritual because it's just not worth the risk!
I wanted to create a household object, (the subject of our incessant tapping and wishing) that embodies this ritual's essence - the tree
The wooden table now possesses interwoven, man-made roots where my intentions can be sent downwards and outwards into the universe It lets everybody know that I didn't mean what I said! Please don't punish me!!
@racheldawnstevenson
Virginie Tan (she/her) b 1992 France
Virginie Tan is an artist and designer based in London, French born of Sino-Cambodian descent. She works across the virtual and the physical, blending elements of interactivity, video, sound and poetry Her practice explores the dynamics of technology and its impact on humans’ behaviours, between the technological sublime and the daze it puts us through. She aims to highlight the function and dysfunction of technology’s usage, by creating a time-space prone to slowness – opposed to the digital exponential speed, almost as if to heal us from it
refresh, 2022
Monitor, computer running TouchDesigner and Ableton Live, LeapMotion
1 5 x 1 m at maximum
refresh is an audio-visual interactive installation exploring how the Internet’s gestural experience has shaped the ways we behave and consume We trade our time, attention and data for simplicity and convenience, while powering up exploitative and damaging business models. refresh is displayed as a speculative wellbeing station to heal from this understanding – a break from endless consumption through a meditative session, unlocked by the pull-to-refresh gesture
This is activated by a LeapMotion sensor which can track hand movement, that has to be moving up and down to "refresh" the installation However, the wellbeing content displayed appears to reproduce familiar
patterns to keep us hooked, as the gesture becomes more and more entrancing. Yet, it’s the only way to soothe ourselves down and find rationality
@oyvirginie
Todd Tourso (he/him)
b 1979 USA
Todd Tourso is a director and multi-disciplinary designer, born and raised in Los Angeles California He began his career at Flaunt Magazine, and went on to work as creative director for Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Pharrell Williams, and Rage Against The Machine. In 2016 Tourso co-directed Beyoncé: Lemonade, winning the 2016 Peabody Award, the 2016 MTV VMA Award for Breakthrough Long Form Video, and garnering a Grammy and Emmy nomination His most recent achievements include directing the short film, “Pupil King” starring Jerrod Carmichael and Henry Taylor, for the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2023 fashion show in Paris.
Sleep Now in the Fire, 2022 Short film
09:52
Sleep Now In The Fire is a 10-minute short film It explores the concept of liberation theology through themes of death, rebirth, and resilience. The film was shot on location in Tlalnepantla, Desierto de los Leones, Nezahualcoyotl, Chimalhuacan, and Playa Chacalacas during the summer of 2022 It is inspired by Tourso’s work with Rage Against The Machine
@toddtourso
Odie-Grace Urum-Kalu (any pronouns)
b. 2004 UK
Odie-Grace Urum-Kalu is a London based artist, with a multimedia practice that ranges from game building to performance Currently a student at Slade School of Fine Art, Odie-Grace’s practice surrounds concepts such as intersectional feminism & cyber resistance. Which takes the form of Auditory manipulation, video installation, performance and games as featured in exhibitions such as Hello Dump 01 & Between Here and There Odie-Grace often commodifies serious subject matter, disguised by an accessible satirical front, providing consciousness to anthropological issues such as misogynoir, internet culture and diasporic conditions Thus commodifying harder topics while providing representation and relatability
Mouf, 2024
Artificial intelligence-aided digital collage. Timber, LED light strips, inkjet print 80 x 40 x 12 cm
Mouf is emblematic of my research concerning afro cyber resistance, specifically what the digital revolution will mean for marginalised identities Often, archivable data surrounding ‘blackness’ is misrepresented through the colonial gaze, providing a monolithic narrative that harbours on pain and suffering rather than a celebration of authenticity. This means archiving details that pertain to my diasporic condition is also inauthentic With technological advancements such as Artificial Intelligence utilising these available, inauthentic datasets, and penetrating through institutional systems ie: healthcare and schooling, I am worried about the consequence that lived experience will once again be un- archivable which would inevitably lead to further and more extreme marginalisation. Thus, Mouf proposes the idea of cyber resistance as an avenue of liberation - plurality in the consciousness of individuals that is indicative of a wider collective experience Visually, the mouths of the individuals are skewed by ai’s incapacity to understand consciousness; however, humans on an empathetic level can interpret and connect with the images in whichever way they are emotionally drawn to
Promise Land, 2024
Perspex acrylic, brick, digital projection
100 x 80 x 30 cm
Promise Land is informed by Glitch Feminism which solidifies online connection as a valid avenue for community and subsequently liberation from monolithic narratives It is indicative of the implications that Promise Land is concerned with the consequences that hegemonic conditioning has had on individual connections. More specifically how the capitalistic urge for innovation has skewed the beauty of connection and has polarised communities into binary identities. As I perform in a void and call to ‘do no harm’ Promise Land indicates an opportunity to reject hegemonic conditioning via online existence and a call for others to do the same
@odiegracesss
Avery Worsley (he/they)
b. 2000 UK
Avery Worsley’s practice centres around the exploration of the complexities of violence, masculinity, queer identity, and the intertwining relationship between them all. Working predominantly with archival photography and other lens-based mediums, their practice looks back towards history, allowing new perspectives to be formed in retrospect
Histoire(s) du Birkenhead, 2023
Digital video, 16:9
05:42
Histoire(s) du Birkenhead is a film compiled of archival footage, from viral videos in the North of England, to 1980s archival documentary footage The film recontextualises videos of raves, football culture, riots, and more, by placing it alongside documentaries that captured the industrial decline of the 1980s that towns like Birkenhead never fully recovered from. Structurally, the film aims to follow a structure that is akin to the confusing and alienating feelings of a queer person growing up in such an environment A fast-paced visual
tapestry of seemingly unrelated videographic ephemera progressively come together to form a cohesive narrative
@averyworsley