HEADER IMAGE Susan Sitko
Back for its third year in a row is Hysterical – an exhibition building-up a new creative community in London with its unique, celebratory curation of queer and feminist art. Named to subvert and reclaim notions of women or people of marginalised genders being “dramatic” or “over the top” when opening up about the issues that they face, Hysterical spotlights a line-up of next-gen creatives, all unapologetically fusing art and activism to explore themes of identity, race, sexual harassment, gender, politics, and more from their own, diverse viewpoints.
This time around, founders Eliza Hatch – photographer and creator of Cheer Up Luv, which provides a platform for women to share their stories of sexual abuse and harassment – and Bee Illustrates – queer illustrator and activist known for their distinctive, colourful art style and informative voice – have dedicated the exhibition to uncovering moments of radical creativity, showcasing 13 emerging artists unique perspectives through ceramics, short films, photography, textiles, and more.
Meanwhile – aside from fundraising for Galop, a charity helping to provide support for LGBTQIA+ victims and survivors of abuse and violence in the UK, via ticket and work sales – Eliza and Bee have collaborated on a new, secret instalment exploring gender identity, safety, and public spaces which will debut at the event.
Ahead of its launch, get to know Hysterical: Radical Creativity’s new roster of stigma-shattering artists below.
JASMINE FOO
If your anxiety could take shape, what would it look like? In her piece “Stuck In A Loop” – which will be showcased at Hysterical – York-born, multidisciplinary artist Jasmine Foo uses a crochet tapestry and animation produced with 121 crochet frames to encapsulate the feeling of intense, repetitive anxiety that morphs together into a vicious cycle. Much like her exhibited artwork, Foo, who is queer and mixed-race, uses her own experiences regarding ethnicity, mental health, sexuality, and personal values to reflect on wider contexts of the world – from her animated patchwork character used to represent what it feels to grow up as mixed-race to cute, shrink-material earrings, crocheted tapestries, and illustrated mantras.
SUSAN SITKO
Exploring themes of femininity, human nature, identity, and sexuality, Susan Sitko is a Brighton-based multidisciplinary artist working predominantly with photography and ceramics. Particularly, through her photography series, she dreams up sensual worlds where she conveys the meaning of humanity and the sensitivity of our inner selves. For Hysterical, Sitko will showcase her series “The Vessel” – which showcases images of a figure-shaped vase marked with fingerprints and imprints from human touch. “With every finger mark on the surface, the clay bodies embody the marks that we, as humans leave on the world evoking sensory intimacy and awareness of time and space,” Sitko explained on Instagram.
EMMALLY PARSONS
“CRAFT IS THE FUTURE,” reads Emmally Parsons’ featured work “Queer As Folk” – a colourful textile printed which catches the eye with clashing ginghams, stripes, and looped lettering. Like much of their work, the piece is infused with Parsons’ Romany heritage and queer identity – opening up a perspective that challenges society’s norms; celebrates the unconventional; delves into weird, wonderful, and all-too-often overlooked aspects of society; and embraces diversity. With a resounding “Opre Roma!” — a Romany phrase meaning “Rise up, Romani!” — Parsons is dedicated to empowering their community and celebrating the richness of their culture.
SHANNON HIGGINS
In 2024, we all know by now that cakes have transformed into experimental, delicate, and decorative art forms. For photographer and baker Shannon Higgins, cakes exist as a way to extend part of herself to other people she wouldn’t – sharing a piece of her own creativity and reclaiming her place in the food industry. For Hysterical, her art piece features a Linked-In-style photograph and IRL featured cakes – altogether titled “Epitome Boss Babe”. “In a similar fashion to the ever so self-sufficient Avon lady, think ghetto-fabulous spokesperson trying to sell you their wacky cake mixes trying to make their dent in the world,” explains Higgins.
“These are some of the pictures that may be on her LinkedIn for that cheeky cross-reference check you find yourself doing. The food industry is saturated with people who do not look like me. It is hard to feel like I have a place in that. These pictures attempt to reclaim that ‘boss babe’ energy I so desperately yearn to see represented.”
MILLIE CHEN
Like many artists, Millie Chen uses her work to express the major changes she’s experienced in her life. After moving to London from China in 2022, the artist began exploring her own identity issues – using collage as a tool to reflect her new experiences like unconscious white supremacy as an Asian woman, the problematic colonial image of women, and feelings of ‘homelessness’ in modern society. Her exhibited work – titled “Primary Education” – is a three-set collage focusing on discriminative words or bias from her different male dates in London with blurring images of mouths reading phrases like, “Are you submissive?” and “You are more woke than I’d expect somebody to be who’s lived in Asia for most time!”
GABY JONNA
With bright or muted colours blurring across her canvases, painter, performer, and sculptor Gaby Jonna uses art as a means to explore trauma, interiority, human transformation, and plasticity – with a specific interest in bodily boundaries and human transportation. Together, Jonna’s art is guided by her intuition, embracing tactile, fluid forms of work that emphasise the practice of listening to our bodies. In her artwork “Morphing Bodies”, she showcases the metamorphosis of the human body, allowing the body to become a meeting point between the onlooker and subject matter to encourage discourse regarding care.
MILLIE ABURROW
With playful colour palettes and comical stylisation, Millie Aburrow’s work characterises the parameters of commercialisation, consumerist society, and – particularly – the contemporary food culture that defines a part of everyone’s life via surrealist sculptures of everyday objects. Her featured artwork “Fill Me In” is a stacked-up, old-school fast food tray stand with a colourful employee uniform hung on its side – created to explore her experience growing up with left-side Cerebral Palsy. “My piece illustrates the exclusion of the hospitality workforce, where people with differing abilities and the lack of accommodation restricts this community from working within the environment,” Aburrow explains. “Even though I was raised with a ‘can do’ attitude, I am aware of my incapabilities; my difficulties with food preparation are very much present in my day-to-day life, whereas within childhood innocence, I had reduced awareness of my disability. Through play in particular, I loved creating pretend cafes and shops, [and] this incapability didn’t exist in my pretend universe.”
ADA KRENZ
“Beauty has a price unless you are warm and nice and you don’t care,” reads the title of textile artist Ada Krenz’s featured artwork – a dyed wall hanging marked with her signature figurines. Born in Warsaw, Krenz uses her art to question reality, delve into dilemmas, and theorise concerns – drawing from spaces like art and anthropology to answer existential human questions and concerts.
“They want to separate us and then they start to hate and destroy, even though we don’t resist anymore” one artwork is titled, while another states: “Excuse me, it’s so embarrassing and we’re sorry, but we’re completely lost… Can you tell us the way and how this system works? We are truly sorry….” With experiments on colour and form using fabrics dyed with the Batik technique, Krenz demonstrates these themes – transforming heavy topics into whimsical, uplifting designs. “Life lacks clear answers to questions, and there’s little need to worry excessively,” she explains, justifying her approach. “After all, we will all eventually meet the same fate.”
ALEXANDRA MCKINNEY
From stop-motion films exploring authentic friendships with hand-made crocheted dolls and real-life audio from conversations with her friends to her Feeling Freely zine which provides emotional support to marginalised readers, designer, workshop facilitator, and writer Alexandra McKiney has dedicated her practice to acknowledging the emotions and voices that are typically left out of the mainstream art space – finding a sense of catharsis and emotional expression for those affected by misogyny, racism, and anti-queerness. Her featured artwork “Yes, I Am Angry” – made up of hand-written, real-life quotes like “You really need to be less emotional, no one in the real world will take you seriously” – breaks down all-too-common anti-feminist and misogynistic viewpoints, calling attention to and interrogating them through a socially-conscious viewpoint.
SARAH JARVIS
With experimental takes on ceramic vases, multidisciplinary artist and maker Sarah Jarvis uses her work as a means to delve into the profound complexities of the human form. With a focus on slip-casting and complex mould-making, Sarah’s interaction with materials guides her projects, showcasing her skill in manipulating forms to create thought-provoking pieces. For Hysterical, her artwork “Codependent Vase” features two ceramic, slip-casted vases linked together like puzzle pieces, cuddling people, or stacked-up furniture – a signature that Jarvis has explored via multiple mediums.
ARABEL LEBRUSAN
For her exhibited artwork “Femicides” – a collection of 81 smashed crockery tiles assembled to address the gender-based murder of women or girls by men – Spanish artist Arabel Lebrusan called out to her community, inviting women or people of marginalised genders to drop by her Brighton-based studio, shatter teapots, cups, and plates, and contribute to a tile. Together, each piece will symbolise female deaths in England and Wales resulting from domestic crimes between April 2019 and April 2020, serving as an indexical sign, representing the victims of abuse. Meanwhile, each tile features different broken china with unique designs, personifying the individuality of the victims. Similarly – through her full body of work, Lebrusan blends mediums like sculpture and installation, as well as embroidery, goldsmithing & silversmithing, drawing, photography, video, and performance to explore themes from power relationships to exploitation, inequality, tension, trauma, and loss.
OUMOU AIDARA
As an intersectional environmentalist – AKA, an environmental activist advocating for both the planet and the people who live inside of it – Oumou Aidara’s approach to art draws from organic, natural inspirations, as well as human themes of identity, humanity, and mental health. With this in mind, the multifaceted, non-binary artist uses still and moving images, written expression, and oration as art forms to explore environmental justice while celebrating BIPOC, queer, and LGBTQAI+ communities. For their featured short film “Feel The Ground”, Aidara uses their cultural experiences being born and raised in Dankar – the Senegalese capital – as inspiration to explore nature’s most organic forms, colours, and elements as a means to explore identity, humanity and the earth in a new realm.
SUMMER PUERTOLLANO
Exploring art at the intersection of abstraction and representation, Manila-born artist Summer Puertollano looks back to childhood memories and interests to inform her artwork – including photography, textiles, writing, soft sculptures, installations, and other tactile art forms. Now, with artist residencies and exhibitions in the Philippines and Mexico under her belt and her own poetry and prose book in the works, Puertollano presents her featured artwork for Hysterical – a hand-made tapestry shot by the seaside. “NOT YOUR ISLAND SOUVENIR” it reads in capital letters providing an intentional, introspective message heavily contrasted alongside imagery of beaches, flower petals, and a “premium rice” sticker.
Visit Hysterical: Radical Creativity from March 20 to March 31 at Bermondsey Project Space at 183 – 185 Bermondsey Street, London, SE1 3UW. Learn more about the exhibition here.
Enjoyed this story? Help keep independent queer-led publishing alive and unlock the BRICKS Learner Platform, full of resources for emerging and aspiring creatives sent to you every week via newsletter. Start your 30-day free trial now.