Gentle Power

14 December – 7 February 2023

Open everyday 9am – 3pm
Saturday & Sunday 9am

Christmas closure
25 December – 3 January 2023

In this exhibition three artists explore perceptions of strength through a feminist lens, asking what inspires the strength required to challenge norms, overcome expectations, and live authentically?

Husna Parvin finds strength in her heritage and the Bangladeshi women who found the power to rise up from the worst situations and build a stronger self in face of danger.

Elena Juzulenaite finds strength in nature, its vitality, its power to renew itself, its strength and gentleness.

Lottie Mcarthy finds strength in rest, taking pride in vulnerability, and cultivating openness to change and unknowing.

Husna Parvin

Husna was born and brought up in Bangladesh. She began drawing and painting from an early age taking inspiration from nature. She came to the UK in 1992 to start a family. Being a mother to her three children taught Husna the patience, softness and resilience that she brings to her painting.
Husna is fascinated with colour and uses it to expressively to communicate emotion.  The artist enjoys sharing her skills and passion for art, especially in community settings, where she creates nurturing classes to bring people together.
The paintings displayed here tell a story of bravery of people who contributed in the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971 particularly women contributions. These untrained women stood up and fought for their rights in a new country which they can call a home.

Instagram: Husna Parvin

Elena Juzulenaite

Elena Juzulenaite is a community-engaged artist and painter. She lives on a boat, which allows her to be surrounded by nature and, observes animals, plants, seasons of the year, and find inspiration from her spiritual connection to the living world beyond her.

Elena’s current series is about accepting change, rot, decay and rebirth. She paints anthropomorphic nature motifs that merge beauty and ugliness in a slightly surreal environment. The artist paints experimentally, incorporating accidents and allowing the unconscious to influence the shape of her work. These paintings are the first in this series and a beginning of growing her own original visual and conceptual language in figurative painting.

Elena is also known for her community-engaged artworks. She creates a series of maps celebrating the achievements of the working class, especially women and minority background people. Her recent project, Wonderful Women of Newham, was featured in the Newham Heritage Month 2021.

Instagram: @elena_juzulenaite
Website: elenajuzulenaite.com

Lottie McCarthy

Lottie McCarthy creates proudly mad, beautifully bonkers spaces, situations, and encounters. She aims to unearth the joy in vulnerability, otherness, and uncertainty in her mental health disability and neurodivergence. She makes in ways that embody this, using discarded materials and broken things in new ways.

Playfully dedicated to a squasher wonkier world of wellbeing, the Wonks displayed here are cushion/cuddly-toy/textile sculpture hybrids made from 100% reused and reloved material. A call to stop denying pleasure for the sake of perfection, Wonks are made without a plan or concern for straight lines or edges. Each Wonk is different and their “imperfections” are their beauty. 

Website: houseofwonk.com
Instagram: @Lottieofwonk