. 

Can you see me?’ was a collaboration with Cornwall based artist Emma Digerud-White showing at Jupiter Gallery, Newlyn, at the time run by the successful artist, tutor, activist and curator Faye Dobinson.

There is seeing and there is REALLY seeing. When we look, we bring ourselves to the viewing – our histories, our experiences, our ideas, our biases, our needs. We asked how can we hope to ‘look’ with more thought and understanding of what is clearly in front of us?

Emma and I have a close synergy between our work which first brought us together; the bond between us grew through our conversations and continues to develop and inform our work on shared themes, after graduating from the Newlyn School of Art.

Conveying deep meaning and emotion, through figurative and semi abstracted mixed media work, we tackled subjects including motherhood, identity, self-image, female gaze, strength and vulnerability.

Much of the work was deeply personal and tackled complex and sometimes difficult emotions, which are often brushed over; here we invited the viewer to stay a while in the depths of these emotions to confront and understand them.

In the show, and working residency, we explored and shared how personal experiences and understanding of ‘feeling unseen’ contribute to the continued themes in our gestural and innovative work. As we commanded to be seen for our talents, individuality, and sensibilities, beyond our physical selves, audiences were invited to contribute to the conversation.