From February 15th – 17th 2023, I did my first solo art exhibition which took place in the Making Space gallery in Poplar.

From January until February, I had a residency where I was using the gallery as my studio space. Here I created and painted my original artworks, even pushing myself to go bigger and do a big piece! It was refreshing to have so much space to myself. Growing up in a council flat in central London meant I was met with many creative opportunities, but never having the space to thrive or utilise them, it usually proved difficult. I think this has subconciously resulted in my work to being on a smaller scale.

The opportunity to work in the Making Space studio excited me and it was the first time I had so much room to work with! I challenged myself to paint on a larger scale and to see how I would thrive working with bigger pieces. I really felt I got to spread my wings as an artist and I managed to produce pieces I never otherwise would have before. Making Space literally made time and space for me to do this and I am so thankful!

The title of the exhibition being The Blue Period is me comemorating the end of my “sad girl era” where I really drew from my feelings from years 2017-2022 but I feel like I have overcome this part of myself and creating these pieces helped me to process my thoughts and emotions. Blue is also my favourite colour – it’s both calming and deep, it can even represent royalty.