Drawn Through

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.

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.