My Head is A Fairground
My Head is A Fairground
The world can feel like a fairground and life a rollercoaster. In this exhibition, I invite you to hold on to joy, bright colour, and moments of shared connection.
When I arrived in the UK in 1988 to study at the Slade School of Fine Art, London felt vast and unfamiliar. My daily journeys on the London Underground became an anchor, and I began sketching portraits of fellow passengers—capturing fleeting moments of connection. Nearly forty years later, I am still sketching on the Underground. These sketchbooks have informed the hand-built ceramic portraits in this exhibition. Each sculpture represents a character of presence and connection, and each is inscribed on the reverse with my own reflections, inspired by female artists who blur the boundary between words and image, and between the private and the public.
The exhibition also includes two fibreglass chair sculptures: Conversation Chair and My Head is a Fairground, Life is a Rollercoaster. In Conversation Chair, a three-headed seated self-portrait reflects my ongoing dialogue with different facets of my identity and the “multitude of selves” that shape who I am. Both chairs invite you to sit, pause, and reflect on the complexity and movement of life.
Across the gallery floor are handcrafted rugs. I began designing rugs in 2009. They are made in collaboration with a small community in Uttar Pradesh, Northern India, and with a maker in Somerset, England. Rich in colour and texture, they offer a soft landing—an invitation to step into warmth and vividness in uncertain times.
The mixed-media wall works grew out of a daily visual diary I began in March 2020. Posting a visual thought each day on Instagram became a way for me to stay connected to the outside world. I continue this practice today, using it to remain attentive to conversation and connection in an increasingly polarized world.
Through ceramic portraits, mixed media works, wallpaper, and rugs, I have created an immersive environment that explores identity, connection, and the shared experience of navigating both our inner and outer worlds.
We all long for connection. My hope is that this exhibition offers a playful and joyful space to reach out across the fairground of our reality—because we are all on this ride together.
Kimberley Gundle, 2026
My Head is a Fairground. 2025
Fibreglass and metal outdoor / indoor sculpture, lacquered fibreglass, 137 × 77 × 38 cm
Conversation Fair. 2025
Fibreglass and metal outdoor / indoor sculpture, lacquered fibreglass, 150 × 73 × 43 cm
Gathering Thoughts. 2025
Mixed media on paper, pastel, graphite, gouache, collage, 36 × 33 cm
How Settled is Your Nervous System.... 2025
Mixed media on paper, pastel, graphite, gouache, collage, 33 × 37 cm
I’m Just Saying A Bit of Fun and Ridiculousness Goes a Long Way. 2025
Glazed hand built ceramic, 25 × 19 × 11 cm
To Keep Our Heads Above Water We Need to Do More Wonderful Things. 2025
hand built ceramic, 35 × 18 × 8 cm
Listening is Presence, We Need to Listen More. 2025
Glazed hand built ceramic
We Are All Made Up of Many Selves. 2025
Glazed hand built ceramic, 23 × 30 × 10 cm
We are all Woven Together. 2026
Glazed hand built ceramic, 41 × 21 × 11 cm
Sometimes We Somersault Through the Day. 2025
Mixed media on paper, pastel, graphite, gouache, collage, 30.5 × 22 cm
How to Empty Your Busy Head. 2025
Mixed media on paper, pastel, graphite, gouache, collage, 31 × 21.5 cm
We
all Seek Meaning in our Lives. 2025
Glazed hand built ceramic, 40.5 × 23 × 14 cm
Wearing rose-tinted glasses optimism shines. 2025
Glazed hand built ceramic, 34 × 22 × 14 cm
Mixed media pen and ink and pastel on paper frame in custom acrylic case, 23 × 141 × 20.5 cm
To Keep Our Heads Above Water we Need to do More Wonderful Things. 2025
hand built ceramic, 35 × 18 × 8 cm
Where Do We go From Here. 2025
Mixed media on paper, pastel, graphite, gouache, collage, 31 × 22 cm
Minds are Complex and Everchanging. 2025
Glazed hand built ceramic, 31 × 26.5 × 11 cm
We all Need a Good Dose of Positivity. 2025
Mixed media on paper, pastel, graphite, gouache, collage, 30.5 × 23 cm
How Do We Navigate the Present?. 2025
Mixed media on paper, pastel, graphite, gouache, collage, 29 × 31.5 cm
Thinking About What Makes us Feel Grounded. 2025
Glazed hand built ceramic, 36 × 21 × 13 cm
Dreaming of Bringing More Romance to the Everyday. 2025
Glazed hand built ceramic, 38.5 × 30 × 12 cm
Some Days I Just Need to Fly Above What is Going on Down Below. 2025
Glazed hand built ceramic, 38 × 19 × 11 cm
Does Your Head Sometimes Feel Like a Fairground?. 2025
Mixed media on paper, pastel, graphite, gouache, collage, 32.5 × 22 cm
for Contemplation. 2025
Mixed media on paper, pastel, graphite, gouache, collage, 30.5 × 22 cm
Sculptural heads (left to right) we are all made up of many selves, Some Days I just need to fly above what is going down below, we need to do more wonderful things’ on their bespoke stands.
Education
1988-1990 Postgraduate, Slade School of Art, London, England
1988-1989 Post Graduate Advanced Painting, Michaelis Fine Art, South Africa
1983-1986 BA Fine Art, Michaelis School of Fine Art, Cape Town, South Africa
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024 Building Communities, The Gallery, 26 Lillie Road, London, UK
2023 How is the Weather in Your Head? 67 York Street Gallery, London, UK
2020 Connection through sketching, Open House London, UK
2018 Personal Encounters, A&D Gallery, London, UK
2017 Heads of Society, German Ambassador’s Residence, London, UK
2016 Solo, Candice Berman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2009 A Slice of London, Art First, London
2003 The Shoe Fits, Portraits below the Knee, Art First, London, UK
1999 Flower Sellers of London, Art First, London, UK
1996 Café Observations, Art First, London
1995 Focal Subjects, The Museum Annex, Hong Kong, China
1994 Portraits, Oxford Gallery, Oxford, U.K
1991 Dreams in the Sand, Peacock Gallery, Belfast, Ireland
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 Collect International Art Fair, Somerset House, Long & Ryle Gallery, London
2022 Discerning Eye, The Mall Galleries, London, UK
2021 Discerning Eye, The Mall Galleries, London, UK
Zuleika Gallery, London, UK
2020 Discerning Eye, The Mall Galleries, London, UK
2019 Collect International Art Fair for Modern Craft and Design, House of Fly Gallery
Saatchi Gallery, UK
2017 Personal Structures Open Borders, Venice Biennale, Palazzo Bembo, Italy
2016 The Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London, UK
SCOPE International Art Show, Candice Berman Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
That Art Fair, Candice Berman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Klein Karoo National Arts Festival, Candice Berman Gallery, South Africa
2015 Crossing Borders, Venice Biennale, Palazzo Bembo, Venice, Italy
Portraits, Candice Berman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2013 Culture Mind Becoming, Venice Biennale, Palazzo Bembo, Venice, Italy
2008 The Postcard Project, Art First, London, UK
1992 London Contemporary Art Fair, Art First, London, UK
2003 Discerning Eye, The Mall Galleries, London, UK
2002 Shoe, City Gallery Leicester, England (National Touring Exhibition)
2001 Starting a Collection, Art First, London, UK
1995 Londoners, Art First, London, UK
1993 Rexel-Derwent Drawing Competition
1992 International Arts Festival, Sauve, France
1992 Artist in Focus, Midlands Contemporary Art, Birmingham, UK
1991 The Gordon Gallery, Londonderry, Northern Ireland
A British Exchange, Karen Mckerron Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
1990 Slade Postgraduate Exhibition, Slade Pearson Gallery, London, UK
1988 Africa Three Visions, Karen McKerron Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Selected Collections
Robert Loader Collection
St. George’s Hospital, London, England St Peters College, Oxford, England
Pentland Group, London, UK
South African Breweries, South Africa Unilever plc.
Invited lectures
2017 Preserving Maasai communities lecture series The German Embassy, London, UK
2014 Drawing the Maasai lecture series Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge, UK
2011 Sky news discussing death of Lucien Freud
1988-2007 Contemporary South African Art A touring national lecture series
Workshop facilitation and teaching
2023 Selected as 4th artist in residence at Earls Court Community Centre documenting the community through portraiture and teaching weekly classes in drawing/ painting & sculpture
2020 Open House, London, UK
2017 RNIB - volunteer facilitator with Local sense, London, UK
2000-08
School holiday art classes from my studio, London, UK
1992 Artist in Residence, Sauve, France
1990-94
1990-96
School holiday art classes at Dragon School Oxford, UK
Drawing and painting tutor Sunningwell School of Art, Oxfordshire, UK
Published to coincide with the Exhibition
KIMBERLEY GUNDLE: MY HEAD IS A FAIRGROUND
16 April –15 May 2026
All works © Kimberley Gundle
Catalogue © Long & Ryle, 2026
Photography by Charles Best Photography
Design by Graham Rees Design
