Drawn Through

Exhibition of solo and collaborative works at Assembly House, Leeds, September 2023

Drawn Through confronts the experience of being blocked – either through social barriers or internal states – and encourages a collective reaffirmation of our power to create other worlds.

The exhibition includes drawings, mixed media collage, moving image, text, lightboxes, and an algorithm-driven piece. Processes include cutting, deletion, transference, concealment, interruption, and layering to the point of illegibility. Some artworks continually evolve, valuing an ongoing process rather than a fixed, resolved state. Many works are paired to undercut their own internal logic, while the text-based works challenge the authority of language. Some of the pieces were made alongside other people, including learning disabled people and Proximity, a collective of artist-researchers. This highlights how collectivity has informed Atkinson’s practice by negotiating a space of care, conflict, and reappraisal of the self, leading to speculative thinking around our shared futures.

Pieces exhibited were made with support and funding from Manchester Metropolitan University, Venture Arts, Pyramid, Arts Council England, Photo Fringe, and Art Fund.

A 3D virtual tour of the exhibition is below. The tour includes audio descriptions of each work.

 

Photos by Jules Lister.