We are delighted to present I Am Rooted, But I Flow, an exhibition curated by Sahara Heard and Phoebe Forster that brings together seven young artists to explore existence as an ever-shifting balance—between stability and transformation, memory and presence, self and other.
The title draws from Virginia Woolf’s novel The Waves, in which she writes: “I feel a thousand capacities spring up in me… I am rooted, but I flow”. As with nature, the self is never still; it is constantly reforming into something both familiar and new. The artists’ work, spanning the surreal, hyperreal and abstract, reflect on what it means to be both anchored in the present and adrift in the currents of memory and existence, inviting viewers into spaces of contemplation as inner and outer worlds merge as one.
Sophie Smorczewski’s dreamlike oil paintings evoke a liminal stillness, immortalising past moments in radiant colour. She captures the bittersweet beauty of memory, where the lushness of living a moment is combined with a quiet sadness at its passing. A similar melancholy resonates in Amelia Klein’s intimate bronze, where the sleeping figure becomes a tangible expression of loss. Her process is a deeply personal confrontation with grief, a guide and testament to our ability to find solace in stillness.
Lying at the precipice of transformation, Yinuo Li’s works explore the porous space where nature, memory and imagination intertwine. Acknowledging the complexities of the human psyche, Li favours the unseen, crafting forms that unfold like enigmatic dreams. Jean Huang, on the other hand, turns to tangible, natural elements to explore her inner landscape, using organic materials and embodied engagement to paint in open landscapes. The resulting pieces reflect a dynamic reciprocity between external and internal worlds, echoing the environment’s characteristics as much as her own.
Sophia Conroy-Iglesias places feminine vulnerability at the heart of her Shakespearean scenes. Through cherubic figures and cascading fabrics, she conjures the theatricality of myth, the drama of desire and the strength that can be found in fragility. Yet, by placing a hand-written poem on the verso of her pieces, Conroy-Iglesias unveils a literary depth to each of her scenes. A similar sense of storytelling is imbued in the hyper-detailed work of Lily Wright. Inspired by the eclectic personalities she encounters at London’s antique markets, Wright populates landscapes with intriguing characters, bringing them to life in a layered, almost collage-like way.
Finally, Juliette Black’s diptych captures a dancer between two states. While one moves with the grace of memory, the other dances amidst the disorienting blizzard of Alzheimer’s, becoming both a homage to what endures and a meditation on the fragile beauty of what slips away.
Together, the artists in I Am Rooted, But I Flow transform everyday moments into richly imaginative worlds, challenging us to consider the self as both anchored and ever-changing, caught between stillness and flow.
Private View Thursday 16th January 2025, 6-8pm. Drinks by Moatwood Gin.
Exhibition runs until 26th January 2025.
Written by Phoebe Forster