Drawn Through

Drawn Through confronts the experience of being blocked – either through social barriers or

internal states – and suggests a collective reaffirmation of our power to create other worlds.

The exhibition includes engraved drawings, mixed media collage, moving image, text-based

works, lightboxes, and an algorithm-driven piece. Cutting, deletion, transference,

concealment, and interruption are strategies present throughout. Layering is applied to the

point of obliteration. Some of the pieces are continually evolving, suggesting an ongoing

process rather than a fixed, resolved state. Many of the pieces 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 others, 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.

The exhibition brings together works from three projects: Atkinson’s practice-based PhD at

Manchester Metropolitan University, funded by a VC Scholarship and in partnership with

Venture Arts, where she worked alongside learning disabled people to explore what factors

help or hinder a person from becoming an artist; an Arts Council England funded project

where Atkinson sought to bring together the social and material aspects of her practice;

and a piece commissioned by Brighton Photo Fringe, with support from Art Fund.