LOCAL / NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL: Aliyah Hussain, Paloma Proudfoot, Renee So

Lowry is excited to present the first of a new exhibition series titled Local / National / International, that brings together three artists who share interests or work in similar mediums, in a trio of concurrent solo exhibitions. It champions ambitious work being made in the North of England, as well as bringing exciting artists to Salford for the first time, revealing the similarities and overlaps in their practices.  

For this iteration, Aliyah Hussain, Paloma Proudfoot, and Renee So all use ceramics as a vehicle for imaginative storytelling, constructing contemporary narratives through objects, tableaus and immersive environments. Feminist ideas recur throughout, with the artists challenging gender norms and representation in engaging, seductive and sometimes humorous ways. 

Aliyah Hussain: She was waiting for her roots 

Aliyah Hussain works across ceramics, sound and collage, drawing on themes found in feminist science fiction and speculative storytelling. She makes expressive sculptural objects that can be reconfigured and remixed for different spaces. For She was waiting for her roots, the artist has taken inspiration from Anne Richter’s 1967 science fiction short story The Sleep of Plants, where the unnamed female protagonist wilfully transforms into a plant, seeking a life of solitude. Hussain will create an immersive environment exploring plant horror, transformation and feminist refusal. Drawing on connections to the rural landscape of Todmorden and her interest in botany and plant folklore, creeping ceramic vines, fronds, roots and curious receptacles will test and penetrate the boundaries of the gallery. An ambient soundtrack will fill and reverberate throughout the space, made by placing contact microphones directly onto clay sculptures.  

Hussain (b.1986, Blackburn) lives and works in Todmorden, West Yorkshire. Recent exhibitions include UCLAY, PR1 Gallery, Preston; The Cutting Table, Leeds Art University; Time Travel Across Many Worlds, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead.  

Paloma Proudfoot: Lay Figure 

Paloma Proudfoot applies her knowledge of clothes patternmaking to inform new and unique ways of constructing her complex ceramic friezes and sculpture. For Lay Figure, Proudfoot draws on research into the history of medicine and the treatment of female patients, particularly at the Salpêtrière Hospital in 19th century Paris, which became the epicentre for the study of hysteria. The exhibition centres on the role of the lay figure, or mannequin, in conceptualising the ‘hysterical body’ in medicine, both their use in demonstrating symptoms of hysteria and how the patients themselves came to be seen as mannequin-like, malleable to the influence of male doctors. Pioneering and controversial methods at the Salpêtrière included utilising artistic mediums such as plaster casting, photography and sound which were used to diagnose, demonstrate and treat symptoms. Questioning the perceived reliability of these materials and the gendered power dynamics between the patients and doctors, Proudfoot will present an expansive ceramic and mixed media relief alongside wearable sculptures. The artist subverts and reimagines these scenes through a personal and contemporary lens; she portrays almost exclusively women and non-binary figures engaged in and directing acts of bodily transformation, simultaneously macabre and tender. Two performances will bookend the exhibition, made in collaboration with artist and choreographer Aniela Piasecka, and composer Ailie Ormston, who has utilised recordings from the ceramics to create an unsettling and eery score accompanying the performance. 

Proudfoot (b. 1992, London) lives and works in London. Recent exhibitions include The Voice of the Play, The Approach, London; The Three Living and Three Dead, Soy Capitan, Berlin, Germany; The Memory Theatre, Bosse and Baum Gallery, London.  

Renee So: The Essence 

Renee So engages with traditional craft forms such as ceramics, tiled wall works, stained glass and hand-woven textiles, weaving historic influences through a contemporary feminist lens to create playful and timeless sculptures. In The Essence, So presents a series of oversized perfume bottles, drawing on the design cues that modern perfume bottles take from their predecessor, snuff bottles, which originated in Qing dynasty China and today can be found in the collections of many Western museums. These objects trace complex colonial histories, from 16th century Portuguese merchants introducing tobacco to China through until the Opium Wars in the mid-19th century, with legacies that continue to be felt today. So’s work specifically references the Yves Saint Lauren perfume Opium, with the artist creating figures that reflect the controversial advertising campaigns, which have predominantly featured exoticised white female models. In a new body of work, So responds to an image of women playing cuju, an ancient Chinese ball game which predates football. The image is taken from a design on the back of bronze mirrors dating to the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD), a period where cuju flourished as a sport enjoyed by every class in society. The image is recreated by So in a new tiled mosaic and a ‘magic mirror’ - an optical phenomena that was a popular item in China during the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 24 AD), the same period as the earliest documentation of cuju.  

So (b.1974 Hong Kong) lives and works in London. Recent exhibitions include Renee So, Kate McGarry, London; Provenance, Monash University of Modern Art, Melbourne, Australia and USNW Galleries, Sydney, Australia.