An Exhibition by i24 at Hastings Arts Forum

Women who ride motorbikes, representations of the Virgin Mary, and issues around hair, all feature in this provocative exhibition. The unheard  narratives  surrounding objects are given voice  – things  apparently valueless, which carry a weight of meaning for their owners.

A literal pathway is cut through wild Scottish landscape in the search for images. Perspective and scale are played with, visual pathways distorted  and reversed to mix up accepted ways of seeing, and challenge the viewer to consider new possibilities .

Gaining Ground: Women Claiming Space, is a photographic show arising from the sheer energy released through post-COVID in-person conversations, collaborations and creative sharing. A phoenix arising from the ashes of lockdown, created by the 12 women practitioners who are part of i24, through collective action.

The lineage of women photographers is considered in this exhibition, to highlight the ground gained and the space claimed over time in the light of recent discoveries of early female practitioners. The work references other artists, pulling together different threads to find new pathways of connection between women.

Above all, this exhibition is a celebration of the strength of collaboration – a gaining of ground through a shared belief that collective action is essential in the forging of new pathways for women, and for our post-pandemic community.

i24 members are: Josie Barnes, Sinéid Codd, Roz Cran, Sharon Haward, Clare Hocter, Robin Hutt, Tracy Jones, Bea Lacey, Lauris Morgan-Griffiths, Patricia Morrow-Webb, Caoimhe McDonnell, Louise Whitham