ArtWorks Open 2023

Selected by

Jasleen Kaur

Rudy Loewe
 Andy Barlow
Annie Trevorah
Beatrice Galletley
Deniz Kurdak
Enzo Marra
George Bradford
Juheon Cho
Lanu Varvaro
Le Liu
Matthew Dowell
Mohsen Zare
Nima Shafiani
Nurbanu Asena
Rizza Zahid
Ruth Calland
Scott Kelly
Sharon Leahy-Clark
Temitope Adebowale
Unu Sohn
Vanessa Mitter
 Jasleen Kaur is an artist from Glasgow, Scotland.
Her work is an ongoing exploration into the
malleability of culture and the layering of social
histories within the material and immaterial
things that surround us. Her practice examines
diasporic identity and hierarchies of history, both
colonial and personal. Moving between sculpture,
video and writing, Kaur initiates work that
enables her to make sense of what is out of view
or withheld.

Recent and upcoming commissions include

Tramway, Glasgow, Wellcome Collection,
Touchstones Rochdale, Glasgow Women’s
Library, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary
Art and Copperfield Gallery. Her work is part
of the permanent collection of Arts Council,
Touchstones Rochdale, Government Art
Collection and Crafts Council.

Photograph: Robin Christian

 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning, London, UK;
Staffordshire St, London, UK.

They have had public commissions including: LDN

WMN billboard commissioned by Tate and the Mayor of
London, London, UK; Becontree Forever schools project,
commissioned by Barking & Dagenham council, London,
UK; The Depths of Our History, Contemporary Art Space
Project commissioned by Iniva and RSA Academies, UK.

Residencies include: Ecologias Especulativas, Labverde,

Brazil (2023); Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge, UK (2023);
Early Years Artists in Residence, Serpentine Gallery,
London, UK (2020); Distributed Identities residency, Banff
Centre for Arts and Creativity, Canada (2019); We Dey, X
Space, Austria (2019).
Photograph: Lo River Lööf
Recent exhibitions include solo shows at VITRINE
Rudy Loewe (b.1987) lives and works in
Fitzrovia, London, UK, Orleans House Gallery,
London, UK. They hold a BA in Illustration
Twickenham, UK and a public sculpture presentation in
from the University of Brighton, UK (2010),
the Liverpool Biennial 2023, UK.
an MFA in Visual Communication from
Konstfack, Stockholm, SE (2018) and are
currently working towards a practice-based
PhD at the University of the Arts London.

Loewe has exhibited internationally in

institutions and galleries including: Humber
Street Gallery, Hull, UK: South London Gallery,
London, UK; New Art Exchange, Nottingham,
UK; Botkyrka Konsthall, Stockholm, SE;
Royal Academy, London, UK; Regart Centre
D’Artistes En Art Actuel, Lévis, CA;
Art is powerful, but not powerful enough1
1. What is the artist’s role in revolution?

2. Rudy and I select the work for this show at a time when artists across the globe are holding insti
tutions to account, signing letters of support, losing already precarious work, pounding the streets in
their millions for Palestine. I am, amidst many moments of hopelessness, asking myself this question.

3. When I lose faith in art and being an artist, like prayer, I open my well-thumbed copy of Lola
Olufemi’s, Feminism, Interrupted at Chapter 6 titled Art for art’s sake. In the same way that Jeffrey
dancing is painted repeatedly, studying it more than once is necessary to take in its fullness. I read it
with my students; I read it with my collaborators in an attempt to propel us into action.

4. Art is best utilised as a weapon, a writing back, as evidence that we were here.2

5.
The school hasn’t’t got much funding so the art provision is low. The Tories have hollowed out state
education. After school he writes:
FREE EE
E
E
on the back of his home made Palestinian flag, adds two sticks and holds it up above his head
at The march.

6. The divide between politics and art is not real.3

7. In what looks like an archive image, a crowd of protestors carries a fellow protester horizontally
above their heads. Some carry placards. It is an uprising. They are demanding justice. The deliberate
blurring obscures their faces, protecting them from our gaze and reminds me of pleas to censor im
ages of protestors before uploading to social media due to increased surveillance by the Met Police.
The artist points towards history showing us that revolution is possible. History and the current
moment are close.

8. A black, brown and white body is connected by a pink gut like thread, through their ears. They are
tethered through the act of listening together. Quantum Listening is listening in as many ways as pos
sible simultaneously — changing and being changed by the listening.4 Elsewhere a sea of people carry
each other, through history and through time. Both artists conjure a kind of togetherness that is
1 The title is borrowed from a longer quote, ‘Art is powerful, but it is not powerful enough to undo centuries of colonial
domination or climate catastrophe.’ Lola Olufemi, Feminism, Interrupted, p.85.
2 Lola Olufemi, Feminism, Interrupted, p.85.
3 Lola Olufemi, Feminism, Interrupted, p.87.
4 Pauline Oliveros, Quantum Listening, p.30.
 sustaining — an enduring mutual support system.

9. The artist studios, in its covert building, stands in a changing neighbourhood, surrounded by
‘affordable’ unaffordable flats. The landlord wants to double the rent of the building, risking its
existence. It’s resisting becoming artist-studio-real-estate like all the others. Refrain from calling any
thing creative or the council will be all over you. Better to lay low, keep the rents down, M says. Mean
while uninspired artworks by way of murals are plastered on the sides of houses contributing to the
liberal facade of the neighbourhood. Little Free Libraries pop up in the front gardens of areas bereft
of community. Coincidentally but not surprisingly the demographic becomes more white and middle
class and none of them join the School Strikes for Palestine WhatsApp Group. Art is weaponised and
complicit in the processes of gentrification.
10. Destroy. Build. Destroy. Build. Destroy. Build. Loops round cyclically. The artist gives an instruction
to participate in this act. Invites us to imagine the world differently. What would we build?

Jasleen Kaur November 2003

ArtWorks Open 2023 received 233 submissions from 137 artists.

On behalf of the trustees of Barbican Arts Group Trust I should like to extend my thanks to all the artists that
submitted their work to the show. I’m extremley grateful to Jasleen Kaur and Rudy Loewe for the time and
consideration they gave to looking at all the works submitted.

Many thanks also, Lesley Dalton, Neil Irons, and Sharon van Heck for all their work on the show behind the
scenes.
Mark Wainwright
Director
BAGT
Andy Barlow
My work is about telling stories, usually about people. I mainly work in oil paint and pastel on canvas and
paper.

The work explores how we present ourselves to the world, how we engage and connect with others; how we
behave in different groups and sometimes disguise ‘the cracks’ in our relationships to cover up ‘what goes on
behind closed doors…’

Often with a sense of dark humour, my work explores the different masks and personas that we sometimes
adopt to ‘face up’ to life - when we ‘put on a brave face’, ‘grin and bear it’ - even Ellenor Rigby wears ‘the face
that she keeps in a jar by the door’.
In Search of Greener Grass 2
oil and pastel on canvas
100 cm x 100cm
Andy Barlow
Work@andybarlowlondon.com
https://www.andybarlowlondon.com
@andybarlowlondon
MA Interior Architecture, Manchester Met
BA(Hons) 3D Design, Manchester Met

Group Shows
2023 - NG Discerning Eye 2023 at the Mall Galleries, London - exhibitor and live artist painting
demonstration.
- Margate Art Prize 2023.
- The Chelsea Art Society Open Call 2023 Summer Exhibition

2022 - Royal Cambrian Academy of Art Open Call 2023

- New Wave Open Call 2023 exhibition at Spitalfields Studios in East London.

Awards/Residencies
2023 - Shortlisted by Tracey Emin for the Margate Art Prize 2023
Annie Trevorah
Annie Trevorah’s multi-disciplinary practice takes a panoptic and cinematic approach; is highly narrative and
often installation based embracing sculpture, textiles, print, photography, video and sound.

Trevorah’s particular area of interest is human–plant interconnectivity. Looking at our immersion within
a dynamic world, she places eco-feminism, drawing on the concept of gender to analyse the relationships
between humans and nature, linked evolutionary/reproductive processes, mutation, shape-shifting and in-
tra-dependence at the heart of her work.

In repositioning our thinking from the human perspective – the anthropocentric mode – to that of the vege-
tative, Trevorah interrogates the human/nature boundary and questions assumptions about human superior-
ity over the environment, asking us to reconsider the human subject as just one of many participants within a
lively ecology of meaning and value - each with its own agentive desires and possibilities, ceaselessly engaged
in processes of their own becoming. As Trevorah reflects upon our future existence, she poses the question of
a biological invasion of an adaptive alien species equipped to survive in the world we have created.

An emphasis on the notion of metamorphosis, leads Trevorah to play with a palette of bright colours and an
array of materials including clay, resin, glass, vegetation, fabric, foam, metal and stone often using a surpris-
ing juxtaposition of materials to highlight discord and sometimes harmony.
Evoloution
sculpture, wall releif
95 cm x 50 cm x 15 cm
£2,400
Annie Trevorah
annie@annietrevorah.com
www.dabinkim.com
@ annietrevorahsculptor
Royal College of Art
Royal Academy of Music
Solo Shows
2023 - Pump House, London, Triffids with Chelsea Physic Garden to celebrate it’s 350th anniversary
- Fold, London, Proximity
- Kensington Park Road, London, Symbiosis
Group Shows
2023 - Truman Brewery, London, Other Art Fair. Winners of the VAO23, International Emerging Artist
- Hypha, London, Corpus

2022 - Malamegi LAB MILAN’22 prize winning exhibition

- 67 York Street, London: Stack
- Chianciano Biennale, Italy

Awards/Residencies
2023 -Curator Space Bursary

2022 - Chianciano Biennale 2022 Prize winner for photography and digital art
- ICAC Art Critics Award

Projects
2022 - Public sculpture, Battersea Pk, commissioned by Wandsworth Council to replace Hepworth’s Single
Form, temporarily
- Saatchi Gallery to create new body of work in response to exhibition

Publications
2023 - Anthology Magazine
- Flux Review
- Haus-a-Rest
Beatrice Galletley
Beatrice Galletley is a ceramic artist living and working in London. In 2013 she began her Foundation
Degree at Kingston University and went on to study her BA in Fine Art at Newcastle University (2014-2018).
Beatrice has recently completed a two-year MA in Ceramics & Glass at the Royal College of Art. At the RCA
she become particularly inspired by objects that are multi-dimensional; they defy boundaries both physically
and metaphorically.

Beatrice ceramic works engage with her direct and intuitive approach to her practice. Rooted in Her deep
fascination with objects in a state of flux, these works challenge our existing perception of the world by
defying our need to categorise things and thus allowing objects to be seen in a new light. The ambiguity of
these works defies boundaries and categorisation. Beatrice achieves this through merging opposing forms;
including geometric and organic, playing with scale, manipulation of context, and colour, to create works that
are suggestive and act as prompts.

Using process-based abstraction; she is able create playful and intriguing forms using techniques such as slab
building and coiling. Whilst creating these forms the artist moves with the work, changing and pushing the
material to its limit, giving a performative component to the sculptures.
Changeling
ceramic
45 x 52 x38
£2,000.00
Beatrice Galletley
galletleyart@gmail.com
www.beatricegalletley.com
@galletley_art
Royal Collage of Art
Newcastle University

Group Shows
2023 - The London Group Show, Copeland Gallery, London
- Instinct, 120 Kings Road, London
- Still Here: Women Making Abstract Sculpture’, APT Gallery

2022 - Bankley Open Call 2022, Bankely Studio + Gallery

- Charlotte Fraser Ceramic Prize, Holt festival, St Andrew Church
- Wells Art Contemporary, Wells Cathedral

2021 -Three Emerging Ceramicist, Caroline Fisher Projects

- Form, Highgate Contemporary Art, London
- The power of material: From virtual to Physical, 2020 Ceramics & Glass Ma Graduates, The Design
Museum, London

Awards/Residencies
2023 - CAS Sculptural Development Award

2022 - Shortlisted for Charlotte Fraser Ceramics and Glass Prize

- Shortlisted for Win IT! Art Prize
- Shortlisted for The Rising Stars

Publications
2022 - Elle Décor Magazine, The Future is Now, October Issue
- Artist to Watch 2022

2021 - The Working Artist II,March

Who Am I?
ceramic
40 cm x 36 cm 52 cm
£2,000.00
Beatrice Galletley
galletleyart@gmail.com
www.beatricegalletley.com
@galletley_art
Royal Collage of Art
Newcastle University
Deniz Kurdak
Working in textile art, I like to reimagine the meanings of cutting, sewing, and mending by introducing a
concept of emotional repair and rewriting personal narratives. Drawing inspiration from the parallels be-
tween this process and the dynamics of human memory, I emphasize the role of reconstruction. I’m intrigued
by the subjectivity of our recollections and our ability to adapt our past to fit our evolving identities.

Familiar scents, half-remembered melodies, or objects and places from the past trigger a rush of emotions
and memories. This phenomenon is underscored by the objects from my personal history recurring in my
works, often in the form of fragments from my grandmother’s dinner set.

Through this, I explore the interplay of opposing dynamics such as belonging and alienation, truth and illu-
sion, disconnection and longing.

Ultimately, visual storytelling finds expression through the language of needlework which translates my per-
sonal mythology. I employ both hand stitch and free motion machine stitch which function as a restorative
process and a catalyst for questions to deconstruct the past, relationships, and our sense of self.
Lady Carlise
textile
30 cm x 40 cm
£850.00
Deniz Kurdak
Kurdakdeniz@gmail.com
www.denizkurdak.com
@kurdakdeniz
Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University - Department of Stage and Costume Design

Group Shows
2023 - Winter Show, Orleans House Gallery, London
- Fringe Arts Bath- Home, Newark Works, Bath
- Scar, The House of Smalls, Chipping Campden

2022 - Winter Show, Orleans House Gallery, London

Awards/Residencies
2023 - Finalist, Women United Art Prize

Publications
2023 - Artist Talk Magazine, Issue 25
- Create! Magazine, Issue 35

2022 - Create! Magazine, Issue 31

- Artsin Square Magazine, issue 2
Suspended Recollection
Mixed media and textile
95cm x 9.5 cm x 9.5 cm
£1,000.00
Deniz Kurdak
Kurdakdeniz@gmail.com
www.denizkurdak.com
@kurdakdeniz
Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University - Department of Stage and Costume Design
Enzo Marra
Enzo Marra’s imagery is marked by a distinct immediacy and a figuratively derived world that lives through
his painted, drawn and sculpted works. The themes expressed made visible via instinctively applied linear and
blocked out passages. The symbols utilised emphasised by the directness of their application, without extra-
neous information to muddle the message they are willing to deliver. The purposely limited palette, allowing
the depicted scenes to not be obscured or overtaken by unnecessary frivolous flourishes.

Marra is a London based painter who has been selected for the John Moores Painting Prize in 2012 and 2016,
the Threadneedle Prize in 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2016, and the Creekside Open in 2013, 2015 and 2017, where
he was chosen as a prize winner by Jordan Baseman in 2017. He has also been selected for the Beep Painting
Biennial in 2014 and 2016, his paintings being highly commended in the 2014 exhibition.
Incident
hi vispaint and marker-pen oncanvas and panel
20.4 cm x 25.2
£750.00
Enzo Marra
marra1975@gmail.com
http://www.axisweb.org/p/enzomarra
@ enzomarraart/
2001 Fine Art, University of Brighton
1999 Fine Art, University of Reading

Solo Shows
2023 - The Church Gallery, Italy

Group Shows
2023 - Champs Noir Curated by Simon Leahy-Clark, Terrace Gallery, London
- Wild Thought, Lido Stores, Margate

2022 - Dog Show curated by Enzo Marra, Thames-Side Studios Gallery, London
- Paradoxes, Quay Arts, Isle of Wight
- Stand close and breathe me in curated by Enzo Marra, Elysium Gallery, Swansea

2021 - Small is Beautiful, Hansard Studio, London

- Stand close and breathe me in curated by Enzo Marra, Elysium Gallery, Swansea
George Bradford
My artwork is a reflection and response to my relationship with my neurodivergency. I explore primarily with
expression and faces that depict burnout and dissociation. I work with clay which I then hand paint with
acrylic paint and finally varnished with UV resin to create a satisfying texture that myself, and hopefully the
audience, finds enjoyable to interact with.

‘Connections’ explores how individuals within the neurodivergent community can feel connected by these
similar traits, attributes, and experiences yet feel isolated and lonely within this experience.

Furthermore, I found the lack of tactile interaction with artwork growing up created a barrier to learning.
While I understood this was often to protect artwork, I still desired an opportunity to engage more with it. I
want to invite the audience to experience a multiple sensory artwork by allowing them to touch the work and
feel the texture so they have an opportunity to do more than just look. It invites the audience into my lived
experience both physically and visually.

With this, I hope to further empathy, compassion, and understanding for the neurodivergent community.

*Dear reader - the way I tend to learn and communicate may not seem typical. I hope this is clear and coherent
for you.
Connections
polymer clay, acrylic paint, resin
30.5 cm x 22.9 cm x 5.1 cm
£995.00
George Bradford
georgembradford@outlook.com
@just.george.art

Fine Art - Oxford Brookes

Illustration - Falmouth University

Group Shows
2023 - Young Artists Exhibition - Oxford
 Juheon Cho
Prize Winner
£250 materials and two Giclée Print Editions
Introducing the latest instalment in the ongoing project titled “A Work Towards Incomplete,” a series that
delves into the intricate relationship between artistic creation, identity preservation, and the allure of unfin-
ished artistic endeavours.

The genesis of this series stems from a profound concern shared by the artist – the gradual erosion of their
presence within their own artistic creations. The culmination of work often signals the artist’s gradual retreat
into the background, eclipsed by the ascendancy of the finalised artwork itself, now a commoditised entity. A
pivotal aspiration emerged: to maintain an indelible connection between the artist’s presence and the evolv-
ing canvas.

Strategically harnessing the power of incompleteness, the artist consciously weaves a narrative where the ar-
tistic process, imbued with transitory sketch lines, guidelines, and intentionally unpainted segments, emerges
as a testament to their continual involvement. By engendering a deliberate state of incompletion, the artist
invigorates the narrative, propelling the audience to participate in the co-creation of the artwork’s ultimate
form.

The composition encapsulates the artist’s innermost expressions through the medium of shapes, colours, and
emotional resonances. Notably, the painting harmoniously amalgamates two distinct elements originating
from prior creations: ‘Rainy Summer’ and ‘Things from My Memories with You.’ The painting, thus, materi-
alises into a landscape that encapsulates the artist’s multidimensional self and the echoes of their soul. Aided
by an ongoing practice of diligently archiving sensory perceptions, emotions, narratives, and experiences
through drawings, the artist harnesses the raw materials of existence to reconstitute their essence within the
evolving.

In the process of creating Mind-scape paintings, drawings lose their narrative, becoming patterned and com-
moditised. This fragmentation reduces them to elements of colour, shape, and texture, erasing their original
narrative significance.

The convergence of elements within these unfinished works reintroduces the artist to their own creation,
resituating their identity within the artwork’s narrative. “A Work Towards Incomplete” thus signifies an
enduring quest to not only conserve the artist’s presence within their oeuvre but also to engage viewers in an
artistic partnership, inviting them to traverse the uncharted territories of incompletion and self-discovery.
Mindscape 23/06/23 (A work towards incomplete)
Koreantraditional pigments on handmade Mulbury pulp paper(Hanji)
75 cm x50 cm
£2,900.00
Juheon Cho
jojoo1987@gmail.com
https://jo-joo.com/
@cho.juheon.art
2015 - Goldsmiths University of London / MFA Fine Art
2010 - Ewha Women’s University, Seoul, S. Korea / BFA Korean Painting

Solo Shows
2023 - @project.dear.diary, Jung Hyun Gallery, Wocław, Poland

2022 - Memories ; Obersee, Villa Heike, Berlin, Germany

Group Shows
2022 - BBA Art Exhibition’, Kühlhaus, Berlin, Germany
- ‘Lange Nacht der Bilder 2022’, Lichtenberg/Studio ID, Germany
- ‘SEOUL’, MKW curated, Berlin, Germany

2021 - Unblock.Berlin’, Studio ID, Germany

Awards/Residencies
2023 - BBA Art Prize - 3rd Prize
Lanu Carvajal Varvaro
Lanu Carvajal Varvaro b.1991

Lanu creates mixed media installations that sometimes include sculpture and a series of drawings to reflect
personal, and social issues. In one of her projects she created a series of mixed media panels using poor ma-
terials and a series of hand drawn forms projected to reflect the subject of Mental Health in her work, How It
Feels, 2019, shown at Hackney Wicked Open Studios.

Later, she collaborated with three other females to create a performance and drawing project about the
strength of women, in her work Rebirth, 2020-21. For each performer she asked a different question, and
asked them to move within a space with each a different symbol related to the theme of Rebirth.

In her works, she takes influence from her mixed heritage, her Native American Chilean roots, and her Sicil-
ian background to inspire her through the process of making.

Lanu wants to try to create a dialogue between the work and the viewer, creating an intimate space for the
viewer to connect with her works.
The convergence of elements within these unfinished works reintroduces the artist to their own creation,
resituating their identity within the artwork’s narrative. “A Work Towards Incomplete” thus signifies an
enduring quest to not only conserve the artist’s presence within their oeuvre but also to engage viewers in an
artistic partnership, inviting them to traverse the uncharted territories of incompletion and self-discovery.

Indeed, the artist’s mind, much like that of the observer, brims with an array of colours, hues, and intricate
shades – a vivid testament to the shared spectrum of human experience.
Untitled
oil paste, ink
94 cm x 34 cm
£300.00
Lanu Varvaro
lanuvarvaro@gmail.com
www.felsteadart.com/artists/114-lanu-carvajal/
@lanuelena
Slade School of Fine Art
Falmouth University

Group Shows
2023 - #39, Southwark Park Galleries, London

Projects
2023 - Growth

2021 - Birth
Le Liu
Le Liu’s dramatic canvases, adorned with vibrant acrylics and impasto oils in a myriad of hues, exude lav-
ishness that echoes the fantastical mythologies inspiring their subjects. Drawing inspiration from classical
mythology, Liu pays homage to artistic traditions while reimagining these classical themes through a con-
temporary lens. Departing from strict realism, his daring twist in colour and vibrancy uncovers overlooked
elements, deviating from the expected focal points. Notably, his artistic choice to remove the heads of figures
in these scenes adds a thought-provoking dimension. Liu’s work invites us to reconsider the timeless narra-
tives with a fresh perspective, embracing the interplay between tradition and innovation.
Untitled
acrylic and oil on canvas
61 cm x 96 cm
£785.00
Le Liu
bwlove123@outlook.com
https://www.leliugallery.com/
@leliu
The Glasgow School of Art
Hubei University

Group Shows
2022 - Shortlist The British Art Prize
- Body and Soul, New Glasgow Society Glasgow
- Accessible art show, Blackwhite Gallery, London

2021 - London Art Biennial

Matthew Dowell
I have a research based practice across the expanded fields of print and sculpture. Responding to specific sites
and objects, I adopt anthropological models of working by exploring social histories, collecting, and record-
ing signifiers of place: signs, mapping, and ephemera to build informal archives relating to identity, memory
and representations of place.

This ‘collecting as practice’ and archive building forms the foundation of every project from which subtle
playful responses emerge. With these responses I aim to subvert our expectations of otherwise largely famil-
iar objects, quietly altering material, text, and tone to (re)contextualise these (surface level) narratives and
allow for a contemporary exploration of placemaking.
Pleasureland
photograph, C_Type print
dimensions variable
Matthew Dowell
matthewjdowell@yahoo.co.uk
https://www. Matthewdowell.com
@Matthewjamesdowell
Print, Royal College of Art (2018-2020)
Fine Art, Kingston School of Art (2013-2016)

Solo Shows
2023 - And I Caused It To Rain Upon One City - London Museum of Water and Steam

Group Shows
2023 - Well Worn - SET Ealing - London
- Blisters: Play - Printclub - London
- Football Art Prize - Sunderland Museum - Sunderland

Awards/Residencies
2022 - Work/Leisure - Abingdon Studios -Blackpool
- Micro Residency (Unmaking Place) - UKNA City Takeover: Leicester 2021/22

2021 - Gordon Rickets Research Fund Recipient - RIBA

- Storytelling Bursary - Social Art Library
- Radical Residency - Unit 1 Gallery Workshop

Projects
2021 - WEAR HERE - Billboard Commission - Commissioned by Spaghetti Factory on behalf of
Sunderland Culture - Sunderland
 Mohsen Zare
Prize Winner
£1,000 and Solo Show
Embarking on an unconventional artistic journey that intertwines his learnings in carpet design and graph-
ic arts, Mohsen Zare delves into a profound exploration of self and the world. His artistic endeavors draw
inspiration from the realms of photography, biological textures, and geometric structures, resulting in an ev-
er-evolving body of work. The consistent theme in his art is the exploration of contemporary Iranian history,
addressing revolutions, wars, migrations, and environmental concerns.

It serves as a means for him to engage in a global dialogue, sharing the pain inherent in the present world—a
landscape marred by darkness where muted colors and prevailing pain symbolize the suffocating burden of
oil on life, casting a pervasive shadow on existence. Despite dedicating years to igniting a flame against this
darkness, Zare occasionally encounters dead ends in his artistic aspirations. As a child of the Middle East, he
has embraced the resilience required by his profession.

Amidst the elusive promise of a brighter tomorrow, his focus remains on cultivating hope and love. Through
his artistic expression, his intent is to imbue each day with additional hues and radiance, pushing back
against the prevailing darkness even as he introspectively not only observes it.

In the “Dark Mass” series, he delves into Iran’s largest funeral procession—Khomeini’s in 1989—using a col-
lection of photographs found in streets, captured by anonymous photographers, which were once propagan-
da documents.

Through painting over these images, he provokes contemplation on the concept of mass and its impact on
individuals and societies. The unaware and uncertain mass serves as an allegory, prompting questions about
identity and influence. This collection sparks reflection on human interaction with masses, governmental
manipulation of populations, and his role in society. It raises the question: who decides who we are? Do we
control the group, or does it control us?
Dark Mass - 11
mixed media (markerand ink on found printed photograph)
39.3 cm x 49.3 cm
£1,000.00
Mohsen Zare
mohsenzare1980@gmail.com
www.mouzenn.com
@Mouzenn
B.A. Graphic design, Sooreh Art University, Tehran, Iran, 2004

Solo Shows
2023 - Featured on objkt.com The Largest Digital Art & Collectible market place on Tezos

Group Shows
2023 - The Natural Eye, Society of Wildlife Artists 60th Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London

- Amnesia & Hypermnesia Group exhibition of Experimental & Alternative Photography, Silkroad
Art - Gallery, Tehran, Iran

Projects
2023 - “The Hope” series, Digital painting, Barabar Curatorial Projects
- “Forever” Project, Photography and Animated GIF, Barabar Curatorial Projects
- Garden Series, Ongoing Project Since 2017
Dark Mass - 12
mixed media (markerand ink on found printed photograph)
39.3 cm x 49.3 cm
£1,000.00
Mohsen Zare
mohsenzare1980@gmail.com
www.mouzenn.com
@Mouzenn
The Glasgow School of Art
Hubei University
Nima Shafiani
Prize Winner
6-week Residency
Nima Shafiani (b.1995, London)

I’m learning how to love and trust again, and just listen to the work. In small groups, I am enjoying the pro-
cess of breaking down questions like what shall we destroy? And, what shall we create? What is mindfulness?
and maybe we should piss on mindfulness altogether and throw it in the fucking bin.

I’ve been really putting art to-work in the last few years, and seeing what happens with and under pressure.
Making art has been a method to build a backbone and realise we don’t need anyone’s permission. For any-
thing. Just have a go. Because of this practice, it feels like everything is to play for right now in the city.
Off-balance 2023-2034 (2023)
acrylic, chalk and household paint on handmade canvasboard
32 cm x 44 cm
£420. 00
Nima Shafiani
nshafiani@gmail.com
www.instagram.com/nima.shafiani
@nima.shafiani @ 41drawings
Fine Art, Goldsmiths (2017-2020)

Solo Shows
2023 - 28 Paintings, The Poetry Society, London (forthcoming)

Group Shows
2023
-The Play of Painting, Taverner Estate Arts, London
- Exposition Collective de Collage, Galerie Openbach, Paris
- LIDO OPEN, Lido Stores Gallery, Margate

2022 - Worth the Journey, Lewisham Art House, London

- Seven Years, Taverner Estate Arts, London

2021 - Our Journey, The Working Mens’ College, London

Projects
- 41 Drawings (Europe, 2023-ongoing) Working alongside other people to host/participate
workshops in communal settings where each person works in graphite to create 41 quick-fire
drawings in two hours.
Skilled in destruction as well as bulding
acrylic, chalk and household paint on handmade canvasboard
43 cm x 44 cm
£420. 00
Nima Shafiani
nshafiani@gmail.com
www.instagram.com/nima.shafiani
@nima.shafiani @ 41drawings
Fine Art, Goldsmiths (2017-2020)
Nurbanu Asena
Nurbanu Asena (‘88) is a Turkish multidisciplinary artist and animation director currently residing in
Cambridge, UK. Throughout her adult life, she has lived in New York, Istanbul, and London, experiences that
have significantly influenced her artistic style and ignited her passion for life drawings inspired by everyday
acts. Her narrative, illustration, and film works consistently revolve around the themes of psychology, society,
women, and empowerment. By infusing her work with pastel colors, she merges reality and imagination, and
crafting a dreamlike realm in which her subjects unveil their deepest emotions.

Her recent projects draw inspiration from the challenges of being an artist and a mother, as well as the
contemplation that comes with entering one’s midlife phase. Presently, she is in the process of developing
a large-scale illustration series centered on motherhood and crafting visual narrative pieces exploring this
compelling theme.
The First Few Months of Nusery
drawing / print - edition 5/5
59.4 cm x 42cm
£280.00
Nurbanu Asena
nurbanu.asena@gmail.com
https://www.nurbanuasena.com
@nunulanka
2016 - 2017, Goldsmiths, University of London, Documentary Filmmaking
2005 - 2009, Parsons School of Design, New York, Design & Technology

Awards/Residencies
2023 - Wysing Arts Centre, Studio Artist

Projects
2023 - Motherhood Revealed
Rizza Zahid
I am a self-taught visual artist currently based between London and Birmingham. I primarily work in ink
and charcoal with elements of mixed media to create surreal drawings that delve into the complex dynamics
of human relationships and everyday experiences, and I try to capture the mysterious and thought-provok-
ing aspects of these connections. Each piece reflects a blend of imagination and reality where the scenes and
characters depicted are heavily informed by the diverse communities, I have grown up around.

My piece ‘Smooth Sailing’ is a love letter to my Kashmiri heritage where I have depicted myself navigating a
sea of ancestral women, carried by a transformative canoe. This piece celebrates their collective strength and
hidden yet powerful influence, carrying me forward.
Smooth Sailing
charcoal, glitter and ink on paper
59.4 cm x 84.1 cm
£1,000.00
Rizza Zahid
rizza.zahid@yahoo.com
www.instagram.com/nima.shafiani
@rizza_zahid

Group Shows
2023 - Open Exhibition - SB Art Studios - London
- Brixton Blog Art Show - Brixton Tate Library - London

Awards/Residencies
2023 - 2nd Place - Public Vote - Brixton Blog Art Show
Ruth Calland
Nima Shafiani (b.1995, London)

I’m learning how to love and trust again, and just listen to the work. In small groups, I am enjoying the pro-
cess of breaking down questions like what shall we destroy? And, what shall we create? What is mindfulness?
and maybe we should piss on mindfulness altogether and throw it in the fucking bin.

I’ve been really putting art to-work in the last few years, and seeing what happens with and under pressure.
Making art has been a method to build a backbone and realise we don’t need anyone’s permission. For any-
thing. Just have a go. Because of this practice, it feels like everything is to play for right now in the city.
Jeffrey Dancing 2
oil on paper on canvas
42 cm x 29.7cm
£850.00
Ruth Calland
ruthcalland@hotmail.co.uk
www. ruthcalland.com
@ruthcalland
Chelsea School of Art
Coventry Polytechnic

Group Shows
2023 - It’s Coming from Inside, (part of Windows and Thresholds), at Bell House, part of
Dulwich Festival, curated by Sarah Sparkes and Jane Millar
- Magic and Miracles, Kreiva Gallery, Bridlington
- ‘X’ curated by Narbi Price, Newcastle Contemporary

2022 - Frequencies (for Healing), curated by Hayley Lock, the Confer/Karnac Art Space, London.
- On Paper, curated by Matthew Macaulay, PAPER, Manchester
- Vitalistic Fantasies, curated by Paula MacArthur, Elysium, Swansea
2021
- Darkness at Noon, APT Gallery, London
- Stand Close and Breathe Me In, curated by Enzo Marra, Oceans Apart, Salford

Awards/Residencies
2022 - Residency, Pasture Project Space, Sudbury UK

Projects
2023 - Founded The Alchemical Sisters artists’ research group; field trip to Wellcome Collection
- ‘Soul Wedding’ conference presentation about live performance series, at Alchemy: Exploring
Metaphorical Transformations and Arts-Based Research, (London Arts Based Research Centre), at
Oxford University.
- Commissioned by Jack Trodd (BWG Gallery) for The Flesh and the Answer, auction for Hepatitis C
Trust, Art on a Postcard

2022 - Pecha Kucha presentation for Paint Edgy: Contemporary British Painting & Guests, The
Ropewalk Gallery, Barton on Humber
- Panel event at Frequencies (for Healing) exhibition: Exploring an ecological view of the psyche. A
conversation between Dr Joe Cambray, Ruth Calland & Serena Korda.

Publications
2023 - Interviewed by Susie Hamilton, Priseman Seabrook Collection
- Facilitating the emergence of hidden dissociative identity disorder, Journal of Analytical
Psychology, Volume 67, Issue1, February 2022, pp 73-87
- ‘X’ Catalogue:, British Contemporay Painting

2022 - Paint Edgy catalogue, British Contemporay Painting

Jeffrey Dancing 1
oil on paper on canvas
42 cm x 29.7cm
£850.00
Ruth Calland
ruthcalland@hotmail.co.uk
www. ruthcalland.com
@ruthcalland
Chelsea School of Art
Coventry Polytechnic
Scott Kelly
Great Cosmic Banality
sculpture
12 cm x 20 cm x 14
£600.00
Scott Kelly
scott.conrad.kelly@gmail.com
Sharon Leahy-Clark
I am interested in the surreal, the strange and the other.
Dream of Flight
watercolour and pencil on black paper
32 cm x 46 cm
£350.00
Sharon Leahy-Clark
sleahyclark@hotmail.com
http://www.sharonleahy-clark.com/
@sharonleahyclark
Royal College of Art, MA Fine Art Painting 1999-2001
Middlesex University BA (hons) 1st class, 1996-1999

Solo Shows
2023 - Head on a Plate Projects at 303 Projects, Lowestoft, live drawing event, with Sarah Kent

2022
- Head on a Plate Projects, Fitzrovia Gallery, live drawing event, with Sarah Kent
- Head on a Plate Projects, Centre for Recent Drawing, live drawing event, with Sarah Kent

Group Shows
2023 - Don’t Look Back, Vivienne Roberts Projects, The Bindery, London
- Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour Annual, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
Projects - Royal Cambrian Academy, Conwy, Wales
2023
- Like a slight hiccup… La Grange Gallery, Reims, France
- Give or Take, Centre for Recent Drawing, London (curator & exhibiting artist)
- Small Things with Big Ideas, White Conduit Projects, London

2021
- Wells Art Contemporary, Wells Cathedral, Somerset
- Royal Cambrian Academy, Conwy, Wales
- Thank you and I mean that very, very sincerely, 303 Projects, Lowestoft

Projects
2023 - Head on a Plate Projects with Sarah Kent (2 woman drawing project)

2022 - Head on a Plate Projects with Sarah Kent (2 woman drawing project)

Publications
- The Chelsea Arts Club Yearbook 2024 (invited artist)
Temitope Adebowale
Prize Winner
6-week Residency
Self in Steam
acrylic on MDF
76 cm x 76 cm
Temitope Adebowale
hello@temitope-artist.com
@temitope.artist
 Unu Sohn
Prize Winner
£1,000 and Solo Show
Oppositions cooperate as the intangible materializes through clay. Concave and convex surfaces demonstrate
the inherent unity of polarity. Billowing curves become crisp edges and sharp points as limbs hover. Small
lumps of clay squeezed within a fist result in skeletal silhouette, an effect caused by the external surface of the
fingers resulting in a form akin to the internal form of those very same fingers. Perhaps a strange coincidence
or perhaps indicative of the transference of energy and form—permeability of the boundary between outer
and inner worlds.

Why do I make this work? There is this fierce protective inclination. Like how a parent feels towards their
child… but also how the same child feels towards their parent as the years pass and roles become reversed. I
am not sure how to speak vulnerably about feeling wary. It’s like a magnetic field. I can only make the work
and speak about the work by juxtaposing differing elements. Bittersweet. Too much of the same and they
repel.

Maybe this language of polarity is about acting in secret, not furtively but covertly. It is much easier to act
under the guise of the complete opposite. Only the truth is known to me. I look dead but I am hibernating
towards some ultimate goal of life. It sounds lofty and serious but perhaps this is just how I convey what is
innate and even delightful.
Avestation
ceramic
10 cm x 17 cm x 16 cm
£620.00
Unu Sohn
unusohn@alumni.rca.ac.uk
https://www.unusohn.com/
@unusohn
Royal College of Art (MA Ceramics and Glass)
University of California, Los Angeles (BA Gender Studies)

Group Shows
2023 - 11:11 (London Design Festival), Jan Hendzel Studio, Staffordshire St, London, UK
- Night Boat, Tra Collective, Fitzrovia Gallery, London, UK
- Colour, Texture, Substance, No Name, Warbling Collective, Kingsgate Project Space, London, UK
2022
- Wales Contemporary 2022, gallery@oxo, London, UK
- RCA 2022 Degree Show, Royal College of Art - Battersea, London, UK
2021
- Bursting in the Neutral Zone, Sugarhouse Studios, London, UK

Awards/Residencies
2022 - 51Cth Residency, Roskilde, Denmark (Solo residency funded by Det Obelske Familiefond)

Publications
2023 - Dezeen - “Emerging Talents Require Nurture”
- Wallpaper - “Emerging stars and established makers unite in show for London Design Festival”

2021 - Emerging Potters (Issue 23)

April 13, 2023
ceramic
6 cm x 17 cm x 9 cm
£330.00
Unu Sohn
unusohn@alumni.rca.ac.uk
https://www.unusohn.com/
https://www.instagram.com/unusohn/
Royal College of Art (MA Ceramics and Glass)
University of California, Los Angeles (BA Gender Studies)
Vanessa Mitter
Oppositions cooperate as the intangible materializes through clay. Concave and convex surfaces demonstrate
the inherent unity of polarity. Billowing curves become crisp edges and sharp points as limbs hover. Small
lumps of clay squeezed within a fist result in skeletal silhouette, an effect caused by the external surface of the
fingers resulting in a form akin to the internal form of those very same fingers. Perhaps a strange coincidence
or perhaps indicative of the transference of energy and form—permeability of the boundary between outer
and inner worlds.

Why do I make this work? There is this fierce protective inclination. Like how a parent feels towards their
child… but also how the same child feels towards their parent as the years pass and roles become reversed. I
am not sure how to speak vulnerably about feeling wary. It’s like a magnetic field. I can only make the work
and speak about the work by juxtaposing differing elements. Bittersweet. Too much of the same and they
repel.

Maybe this language of polarity is about acting in secret, not furtively but covertly. It is much easier to act
under the guise of the complete opposite. Only the truth is known to me. I look dead but I am hibernating
towards some ultimate goal of life. It sounds lofty and serious but perhaps this is just how I convey what is
innate and even delightful.
A Sense of Sublime
oil pen, collage on canvas
40 cm x 30 cm
£900.00
Vanessa Mitter
vmitter2010@hotmail.co.uk
www.vanessamitter.com
@vanessamitter
Chelsea College of Art and Design: Postgraduate Diploma and Masters in Fine Art
Central Saint Martins-BA Honours Fine Art: Painting

Solo Shows
2021 - Obras Recientes, Espai 65, Ibiza, Spain

Group Shows
2023 - What This Awl Means: The LaLa International Art Collective and Guests, Künstlerhaus, Bregenz,
Austria
- Dog Show, Thames-Side Studios Gallery, London
- This Year’s Model II, Studio 1.1 Gallery, London

2022 - Swamp Legends, Terrace Gallery, London

- A Woman’s Place Is Everywhere, Cello Factory, London
- A Generous Space II, The New Art Gallery, Walsall

- The Smoke, Terrace Gallery, London

2021 - our Foot In My Face and Other Tectonic Strategies, curated by Dan Howard Birt, Kingsgate Project
Space, London
- Contemporary Narratives: Part Two, London Paint Club

Awards/Residencies
2023 - Jackson’s Painting Prize - longlist
- The Mark Rothko Memorial Trust Artist-in-Residence Award, selected by: Rebecca Salter RA, Tim
Marlow, Laura Culpan (Director of Artwise Curators), Paul Huxley RA.
2022 - Jackson’s Painting Prize - shortlist
- Waverton Art Prize - longlist

Projects
2023 - Instagram Live Talk for ‘What This Awl Means’, the LaLa International Art Collective
- Tour of ‘What This Awl Means’ at Künstlerhaus, Bregenz, Austria by Ulli Knall
- Introductory talk for the Vernissage of ‘What This Means’ and shamanistic ritual, honouring the
deceased artists
- Co-curating ‘The Smoke’, Terrace Gallery, London, with Ben Westley-Clarke
- Tour of ‘The Smoke’, Terrace Gallery, London
Publications
2023
- Catalogue - What This Awl Means
2021 - Catalogue for ‘Obras Recientes’