Studio Holders at the Leeds Artists Show

JULIA MCKINLAY

Exploring material processes that mimic nature, Julia McKinlay’s practice spans drawing, print and sculpture. Often this work blurs the boundaries between nature and human-made, using chemical reactions, heat and pressure to create environments and installations.

Coiled in a Single Plane, Skimmed and Separated, reconfigured for the Leeds Artists Show, re-imagines the surface of a xenophora snail, a mollusc that gathers objects from the sea floor. Part of the installation is formed by bringing together mollusc-like forms, through bi-products of the workshop and foundry in the form of steel and slag, a synthetic rock formed when processing molten iron.

Find Julia:

Website: juliamckinlay.com | Instagram: @julia_mckinlay

MOHAMMAD BARRANGI

Storytelling, humour, Persian calligraphy and text form the backbone of Mohammad Barrangi’s extensive practice, sometimes shown as intimate works on handmade paper, or selectively expanded into large-scale murals.

After being born without full mobility in his left arm, he has developed a unique artistic practice which utilises his right hand and both feet to create his distinctive works. Through these intimate works, he centres on themes around lived experiences through disability and immigration.

Find Mo:

Website: mobarrangi.com | Instagram: @mohammad.barrangi

EDD CARR

Edd Carr’s practice looks heavily at sustainability and our relationship to ecological crisis through using analogue image-making processes. Primarily a moving image artist, his films are formed through using low-tech frame-by-frame development, and he is also co-director of the Sustainable Darkroom.

Yorkshire Dirt, a film by Edd Carr is showing in the projection room and is printed entirely on soil collected from the North York Moors, in a process innovated by Edd. It forms a commentary on rural landscapes, and the structural violence present there.

Find Edd:

Website: eddcarr.co.uk | Instagram: @_eddcarr_

STELLA BARAKLIANOU

Medieval illustrations, tarot cards, celestial maps and ancient Greek myths inform much of Stella Baraklianou’s practice, and through these, she explores themes around conjuring, magic and divination. Working across photography, sculpture and installation, her work takes many forms but is usually site-specific, to create immersive installations.

Designed to change with the angle of view as the viewer moves around it, The Magician, shown in Leeds Artists Show, looks at the magician tarot card as a reflection of our daily interactions through the screen and social media. Through the nature of the movement within the piece, each viewer imagines their own magician.

Find Stella here:

Website: stellabaraklianou.com | Instagram: @stellabarak

LORNA JOHNSON

Objects form the core of Lorna Johnson’s practice – cherry-picking and bringing them together to make new forms, through finding or forming. These sculptural forms are brought together through materials that carry life force, and/or are historically charged. Combinations between materials and quantities help to expand on this through the materials used and chosen.

Throughout their practice, there is an essential question of value, explored through the use of materials that usually can be perceived as non-precious and disposable. This question of value transfers to Lorna’s practice-led PhD research linking to the objective and subjective value of objects.

Find Lorna:

Website: lornamilnerjohnson.com | Instagram: @lornamilerjohnson | Twitter: @lornamjohnson

EMMA BENTLEY-FOX

With a practice made up of visual arts and photography, as well as facilitation through space making and being part of Party Mom Society, Emma Bentley-Fox has a broad range, and it generally touches on running themes around intimacy, nostalgia and repair.

Blue Kiss is a tender moment between two people. A glimpse into a sweaty dance floor; the image sits slightly outside of definition and out of focus. Shot on 35mm film, the colours and distortions draw parallels to Queerness through their unpredictability and vibrancy.

Find Emma:

Website: emmabfox.co.uk | Instagram: @emmabfox

PAUL EMSELL

A painter foremost, Paul Emsell’s work has then moved into more sculptural objects, mostly working with paint alongside wood and wire to create complex, intricate forms. 

For Leeds Artists Show he is showing The City, which explores the idea of humanity having one goal – to build a city in which to lose itself.

Find Paul:

Instagram: @buriedlandskip

HANNAH PLATT

With a practice led by photographic documentation, Hannah Platt’s work looks at Northern cities, towns and communities and documents their changes and histories. Her work sits as an observation of the joy and humour that exists in the core of these places.

The everyday forms the backdrop for Hannah’s work and through this an outward look at the habitual beauty which fills Northern towns. Small, fleeting, ordinary moments become something much larger: places of beauty and wonder, through landscapes but also facades and shop signs that colourfully punctuate terraces and communities.

Find Hannah:

Website: hannahplatt.com | Instagram: @hannahbplatt

RUFUS NEWELL

Forming work through materials that have a tangible presence, like paints, inks, graphite and concrete through the use of line work and sculpture to create mesmerising pieces rich in texture and storytelling. 

The end results are initiated through memory, feelings, responses and direct observations of the world around us, creating rich collage-like tapestries and icons that explore a range of narratives.

Find Rufus: 

Instagram: @rufusnewell

RHIAN COOKE

Approaching the making of work with a playful and handmade style, Rhian Cooke’s practice ranges across sculpture, moving images and installation arts. Nature and the environment are ongoing themes throughout her work, through the creation of sonic worlds and experiences.

Traffic Trio, shown in the projection room, is a trilogy of short films inspired by Rhian’s interest in cycling, headspace, and anxiety and stress present when travelling on the road. Movement is explored through the creation of both real and imagined spaces and the natural and built environment present in them.

Find Rhian:

Website: rhiancooke.com | Instagram: @rhiancooke

IAN KIRKPATRICK

With a working practice inspired by a myriad of visceral places, from ancient cave art to computer graphics, Ian Kirkpatrick’s work draws from the history of art and design. With working methods and materials that parallel industrial processes through digital design and material choices like steel, perspex, vinyl and embroidery amongst others.

Reflecting upon the contemporary world, the Age of Silver is made up of cardboard, embroidered patches, zippers and chains and presents our polarised politics, loss of faith in democracy, rising poverty and global conflict.

Find Ian:

Website: iankirkpatrick.ca | Instagram: @iankirkpatrickartist

Find out more about studios with us here, or about the Leeds Artists Show here.