Dark Peak Photo Festival

My photograph ‘Last views from Porch House’ has been selected for the Dark Peak Photo Festival curated by Vikki Rutter. Photographs responding to the theme ‘lost and found’ from 121 people will be displayed in business windows across Glossop High Street in Glossop from Monday 17th February - Sunday 23rd February 25.

The image is from the first 35mm film I have shot in 20 years. I first picked up a camera while studying Fine Art at Sheffield Hallam University. These window views are taken from my partner’s family home. I wanted to capture these views before the house is sold. This seemed like the best medium, and one I think his Aunt (who recently passed) would have appreciated. Every view from every window in this house is painfully beautiful.

Paper

My cyanotypes ‘Forsythia’ & ‘Forsythia II’ have been selected by Rachel Gladfelter for Paper, an online exhibition at Site:Brooklyn Gallery. The cyanotypes are made on the back of floral wallpaper from my ‘they concreted over the garden and the cats ran away’ series.

‘Ancient and versatile, paper has historically acted as a carrier, allowing the sharing of ideas, image and word.  With the advent of exploratory papermaking studios and residency spaces in the mid to late 20th century, artists began creating work within the medium itself, bringing new energy and innovation.’

Exhibition: February 13, 2025 - March 13, 2025

Symbiosis III

‘Symbiosis III' has been selected for Photo Fringe 2024 Collectives Hub: Common Ground in Phoenix Art Space in Brighton from 5th October - 17th November. I will be exhibiting a new work and co-curating with Melanie King, and Ky Lewis.

The opening is Friday 4th October 6 - 8 pm. ‘Symbiosis III’ is an evolving collection of works by members of the London Alternative Photography Collective, exploring the relationship between image makers, the more-than-human, and alternative photographic processes.

Opening: Friday 4 October 6-8pm
Exhibition Open: 5 Oct-17 Nov, Wed-Sun 12-5pm (closed Mon-Tue)
Pheonix Art Space: 10-14 Waterloo Pl, Brighton and Hove, Brighton BN2 9NB

Artists: Anna Kroeger / Anna Lukala / Ed Sykes / Esme Papa  / Hayley Harrison / Ky Lewis / Laura Hindmarsh / Megan Ringrose / Melanie King / Milena Michalski / Riya Panwar / Sayako Sugawara / Soham Joshi / Sophie Sherwood / Wendie Hardie / Zara Carpenter

Cosmic Perspectives

I am taking part in Cosmic Perspective - BYOB (Bring Your Own Beamer) in Ramsgate on Saturday 21st September from 12 - 5 pm and for the September Equinox.  

Lumen Studios presents a number of astronomy and space-themed projections for a pop-up Bring Your Own Beamer event at St Georges Crypt (The Crypt, St Georges Church, Church Rd, Ramsgate CT11 8RE).

I will be showing a new text-based projection.

holding light feeling - is an evolving text based projection responding to seasonal shifts and our relationship to light, political ‘landscapes’ and the temporary surfaces these words are projected onto.

we grieve and hold hands - end of residency performance

As my residency 'we grieve and hold hands' draws to a close visit me at the Valley Room (next to the Banbury Reservoir in London) on Saturday 14th September 12- 4 pm. I have been exploring the ever-changing face of the Lea Valley via plants from its marshes and text. On Saturday I will be making an ephemeral site-specific floor drawing. Below are reflections on my time here and directions to the Valley Room.

Hayley has brought mugwort and mantra to the Hastingwood Trading Estate and Edmonton towpath, expanding their long-term research into grief and community within the landscapes of the Lea. 

I began this residency by tagging my repeating calls along the towpath near Tottenhale Marshes and on Chalk Bridge - I had planned to hand these mantras out too. Instead, I fell off my bike and was awarded two black eyes. Restricted by my appearance I spent a lot of time looking out of the ‘Valley Room’ window and looking in and down at the shadows on the tiled carpet.

AiR’s Valley Room’ is in Hastingwood Trading Estate. From the windows, the viewer bears witness to a beautiful fascinating shit show. In the far distance the city, in the middle distance the Banbury Reservoir and hints of the Lea Valley, and in the foreground the busy trading estate. Just around the corner is ‘Meridian Water’ currently a massive construction site part of the ‘major 20-year regeneration programme led by Enfield Council. Bringing 10000 homes & 6000 jobs to Enfield, next to the Lee Valley Regional Park’. Apparently, it has been planned with little public consultation.

During my time in the Valley Room, I have worked with words found around the trading estate - words of warning, words of prohibition, and graffiti - alongside my repeating calls. Collectively they examine our place within places.

From the marshes, I have brought plants into the Valley Room - selecting only ones I have been getting to know since the pandemic. Yarrow, Mugwort, Comfrey and Nettles. They are all common, powerful and found in abandoned spaces. 

I have thought about how I negotiate and move through spaces - can we step too gently as visitors and guardians - as members of communities. I know the importance of bearing witness - yet fear inaction. I am thinking about loss - the impermanence of my mediums and the impermanence of our landscapes - the bitter-sweet lesson that understanding loss can also lead to gratitude. 

Finding The Valley Room

The Valley Room is currently located in AiR’s studio beside the Banbury Reservoir at Unit A29, Hastingwood Trading Estate, London N18 3HU. It is a fascinating 30 min walk from Northumberland Park Station, via marshes, the canal, and businesses on the edge of the Meridian Water construction site. Here is a map from the station to the Valley Room. It is also a beautiful walk along the canal from Tottenham Hale Station.

The Valley Room considers artist-making in the Lea Valley through a gathering of artefacts, films, objects, maps, books, events. Artists are invited to reflect on a previous work made in response to the valley; to share work-in-progress; or to make a new intervention.

The Valley Room Residency

I am in residence at ‘The Valley Room’ a space held by AiR on Hastingwood Trading Estate in the Lea Valley until mid-September. I will use this time to explore my repeating call 'we grieve - and hold hands' - which seems ever more poignant

bringing with me my repeating call ‘we grieve and hold hands’
through windows
opened by mugwort and yarrow
this side of the window - and that side of the bridge
projecting - walking - in, on and amongst
this industrial home - because ‘home is now’
Distribution (the act of sharing)
along the marshes
on the ‘cut’
moored close by

Please get in touch if you would like to visit me at the Valley Room.

Canal Dream Festival

I will be exhibiting a selection of my toned cyanotypes from my ‘they concreted over the garden and the cats ran away’ series as part of the Canal Dream Art Festival opening this Friday 9th August from 5 pm. The festival is taking place across seven floating art spaces on Regent’s Canal, King’s Cross with exhibitions, performances, film screenings, music and workshops until Friday 16th August. My work will be in The Walker City - 125 Caledonian Road, London, N1 9RG

SYMBIOSIS II

I am excited to be co-curating and showing a new work from my series ‘they concreted over the garden and the cats ran away’ for Symbiosis II at Four Corners (Bethnal Green - London).  It is lovely to oganise this again with Ky Lewis & Melanie King.

With over 30 artists it’s going to be a special one 💚

Symbiosis II - An exhibition organised by London Alternative Photography Collective at Four Corners Gallery, curated by Hayley Harrison, Melanie King, and Ky Lewis. The exhibition is held on the same week as Photo London Art Fair. 

‘Symbiosis’ is a group exhibition exploring the relationship between image makers, the more-than-human, and alternative photographic processes.

When working with analogue and alternative photographic processes, light, water, and botanicals are harvested to expose, process, tone and transform work. During this transformation, there is a dependency on non-human elements. This exhibition considers the connections between symbiosis and alternative photography, and asks if nature is a collaborator or a commodity in alternative photography processes.

Private View: Thursday 16th May 2024 18.00 - 20.30 with Photo-scanner synth demo by Hack Modular.

Exhibition Open: Wed 15th May - Saturday 18th May 2024 11.00 -18.00.

Four Corners: 121 Roman Road, Bethnal Green, London, E2 0QN

Artists: Aindreas Scholz / Anna Kroeger / Anna Luk / Anna Lukala / Catriona Gray / Constanza Isaza Martinez / Ed Sykes / Eileen White / Eric Fong / Hayley Harrison / Heloise Bergman / Inga Tillere / Jacqui Barrowcliffe / Katrina Stamatopoulos / Ky Lewis / Laura Hindmarsh / Leanne Wiggers / Luca Ortis / Magda Kuca / Martha Gray / Megan Ringrose / Melanie King / Milena Michalski / Nettie Edwards / Paeony Lewis / Riya Panwar / Roellof Bakker / Sayako Sugawara / Sophie Sherwood / Vikki Rutter / Yasuaki Matsumoto / Zara Carpenter

Poster Image: Riya Panwar

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Strong Bonds for a Fragile Planet

Excited to be holding my ‘home is now - we are home’ interactive walks for Metal Peterborough - in my hometown!

This is part of their programme ‘Strong Bonds for a Fragile Planet’. The first walk will be on Saturday 24th Feb 5pm - 7 pm. You can book and find out more about my walks and other events in the programme here.

Inspired by ideas from the book Radical Intimacy by Sophie K Rosa, the project will feature a series of talks, walks, workshops and dinners to consider what we need at a time when the world feels fragile in many ways.

From Saturday 24 February through to Saturday 2 March, there will be a series of events, featuring interactive walks led by artist Hayley Harrison, talks as part of our Metal New Artist Network, workshops for writing fan fiction and creating geometric designs, plus a residency focusing on rest by Kate Genever.

Exploring grief and loss through art

My cyanotype ‘They concreted over the garden and the cats ran away #2’ has been selected for ‘Exploring grief and loss through art’ at Willesden Gallery - group exhibition featuring London-based artists, that explores artists’ experience of loss and grief in contemporary art practice.

SYMBIOSIS

I am co-curating and exhibiting in ‘Symbiosis’ opening next Thursday 18th (6:30 - 9:30) at Hundred Years Gallery. ‘Symbiosis’ is an exhibition organised by London Alternative Photography Collective at Hundred Years Gallery - curated by Hayley Harrison, Melanie King, and Ky Lewis.

Exhibition Open: 18th January - 27 January 2024.

Hundred Years Gallery: 13 Pearson St, London E2 8JD.

Opening Times: Wed - Fri 14:00 to 19:00 Sat: 16:00 to 19:00 Sun: 13:30 to 19:00

Evening Events opening: 19:30 to 22:00

Private View: Thursday 18th of January 2024 6.30 to 9.30

Photo-scanner synth demo by Hack Modular.

Closing event & artist tour: Saturday 27 January 2024 4-7.30pm.

Alice Watkins / Anna Kroeger / Anna Luk / Anna Lukala / Catriona Gray / Constanza Isaza Martinez / Ed Sykes / Eileen White / Eric Fong / Esme Papa / Hayley Harrison / Imogen Locke / Katrina Stamatopoulous / Ky Lewis / Leanne Wiggers / Magda Kuca /Megan Ringrose / Nettie Edwards / Paeony Lewis / Roelof Bakker / Sayako Sugawara /Sophia Sherwood / Walter and Zoniel

Image: Leanne Wiggers

Poster: Hayley Harrison

and we walk

‘and we walk’ is a performative meditative walk at dusk on Tuesday 1st August along the Regents Canal towpath from Islington Tunnel to Broadway Market.

You are invited to walk through this urban landscape following a repeating call - in the form of projected text-based light. We will also follow the light of the full Sturgeon Supermoon. 

We will meet at 9 pm on Colebrooke Row above the east end of Islington Tunnel (Angel entrance).

The repeating call is from Hayley Harrison’s ongoing ‘repeat after me' series projected (with a handheld-projector) and cyanotyped texts. These short repeating texts are an invitation to share deeper relationships to each other and the more-than-human.

Find out more information and book here.

circle of listening

To coincide with the exhibition ‘To be we need to know the river’ I will be holding a 'Circle of listening' on Saturday 26th August (11am to 1 pm) starting at Lot Project Space.

The morning will be made up of a silent walk and short meditative listening activities. There will be time to share and reflect.

This circle will explore how we are in relationship to each other whilst in relationship to the more-than-human. We will bear witness to individual sounds, simultaneously, via each other and via the natural elements we encircle. We will gently move to, from and around the trees as we listen.

This event will be part of my ongoing ‘Circle of Listening’ gatherings exploring deep listening and holding space together.

Book via Eventbrite

Listening with: Reflections on the earth crisis

In this publication, I reflect on how we can have meaningful conversations about the Earth crisis.

During 2022, Cubitt Gallery delivered Going Greener, a project supported by Islington Giving. The fund invited local organisations to consider their impact on the environment and how they can operate in more environmentally friendly ways. From this project came the publication ‘Listening with: Reflections on the earth crisis. It shares reflections from artist and Cubitt’s Community Projects Curator Hayley Harrison on how we can have meaningful conversations about the Earth Crisis.

Design by Mariana do Vale & original artwork by AMSI Students

Nunhead Open Day

In May I was commissioned by Narrative by Design to run a drop-in workshop at Nunhead Cemetery Open day with artist Charlene Sandy. Memories and wishes for Nunhead Cemetery were shared as a wishing tree, and sculpted offerings made from natural materials. This workshop informed consultancy for Nunhead Cemetery East Lodge project for Southward Council.

Watford Neighbourhood Exchange Project

In December I ran a cyanotype workshop for Watford Neighbourhood Exchanges Project at Meridian Community Centre. The workshops was commissioned by Bridget Sawyers Art Consultants for Watford Borough Council. The cyanotypes were made by local residents in a custom made UV box. This workshop fed into Watford Councils’ public art strategy.

Going Greener workshop

I recently ran a workshop with a Cubitt Gallery community group to tease out ideas about our individual and collective responsibility towards the earth crisis. This session fed in Cubitt’s Going Greener Project funded by Islington Council.

'holding resilience' cyanotypes available

Since finishing my a-n bursary I have continued to experiment with making cyanotypes and toning with plants.

A selection of my 'holding resilience' series is now available to purchase directly from my shop as part of the Artist Support Pledge.

They are made on the back of old wallpaper, sized A4. There is a selection of untoned prints and prints toned with Barley Grass. The Barley Grass has shifted the usual blue colour towards green.

Each cyanotype is a unique variation and includes marks from the wallpaper it is printed on, and hints of the wallpaper pattern behind.

🌱

The plant I am holding is a Cow Parsley.

The Cow Parsley grew up through my interactive installation 'how did we become so resilient' - installed at Phytology: Bethnal Green Nature Reserve while I was in residency. The installation was an interspecies conversation that started with me weaving this question into the netting of a found plastic sack.

To install the work I cleared a patch of ivy – a resilient plant. The Cow Parsley replied, as did more ivy - more resilience.

I’ve been stuck on the word resilience since the beginning of the pandemic. How much resilience do we have in the face of our experienced personal and collective traumas? Is all this resilience a good thing?

The cyanotypes are printed on discarded wallpaper - and hints of the original pattern can be seen, echoing the grid of the original installation.

🌱

Do get in touch if you have any questions or you would like to discuss framing recommendations.

Dark Mountain: Issue 22 - ARK

I am delighted to have a piece about my performance ‘Projection’ included in the latest  Dark Mountain Publication - ARK. In it I share some of the ideas behind my work and residency at Phytology: Bethnal Green Nature Reserve. 

‘In between the questions and in the one minute of listening that followed, we waited for a sign that the nonhumans could hear us. There weren’t any tangible answers. Yet as the projected light highlighted the surfaces of the trees, the questions were reformed and recontextualised by their bark and the foliage of their leaves.’

The Dark Mountain Project is centred around the Dark Mountain books published in autumn and spring - making art that doesn’t take the centrality of humans for granted. We are tracing the deep cultural roots of the mess the world is in.

This is a special all-colour edition, including many beautiful pieces by other writers and artists, and a front cover by Graeme Walker. Dark Mountain: Issue 22 - ARK can be purchased here.

To celebrate Dark Mountain: Issue 22’s release, do join us for an online launch on Tuesday 25th October starting at 19:30 BST. You can book a place here. 

Dark Mountain: Issue 22 is a hardback book, 256 pages long, printed on FSC-certified paper

Editors: Neale Inglenook, Joanna Pocock, Philip Webb Gregg. Art and Production: Charlotte Du Cann.

Cover and contents artwork Graeme Walker

Circle of listening

I will be holding a 'Circle of listening' at Phytology: Bethnal Green Nature Reserve on Sunday 23rd October 4- 6 pm. 

You are invited to ‘Circle of Listening’, a meditative gathering where we will sit and walk silently together, listening to what the Nature Reserve has to say.

The session will be made up of short experimental listening activities, including time to share and reflect on the listening experience. Together we will make a record of what we have heard, a snapshot of time will be included in the nature reserve’s ongoing ecology survey.

The circles will be led by artist Hayley Harrison, whose practice explores possibilities of deeper connection to each other and the non-human world.

Location: Phytology, Bethnal Green Nature Reserve, Middleton St, London E2 9RR

Time: 4pm – 6pm Sunday, 23rd October

Free, but places are limited x 12 people - please book a place here 🌱

There will be an option to sit or lie on the ground – you may wish to bring a blanket or mat to sit on (there will also be stools). Walking will be at a gentle pace within the nature reserve. If you have any accessibility requirements, please get in touch.