“Raw Edges” is a vibrant art exhibition featuring the work of 10 talented local artists, each bringing a unique perspective through various mediums. This exhibition is part of the Crate Walthamstow 3-Month residency and kicked off with the lively Crate Party during the E17 Art Trail.

The theme “Raw Edges” is reflected in many ways by the artists. Steven Conner’s intricate collages, Stephen Keane’s use of wood, Moises Moreno’s bold abstract expressionism, and Rashmi Gunathilaka’s exploration of ‘situationships’ and romantic vulnerability all showcase different aspects of raw, unrefined beauty. Each artist brings a unique edge to their work, offering viewers a glimpse into their authentic creative process.

Join us to explore and celebrate the diverse and compelling works of these local artists in “Raw Edges.”

Compiler

@compiler.zone  |  compiler.zone/ 

Compiler is a collective for digital art, curation, and critical technical practice that investigates socio-political challenges in digital culture. They aim to create accessible works and events through which audiences with different levels of technical awareness can delve deeper into digital technologies that shape day-to-day experience. Some Kind of Hack Space is a programme for autonomous creative exploration with technology for neurodiverse young people aged 14-25 produced by Artillery. A space where you can bring your own ideas and projects, join creative workshops with guest artists and scientists, and experiment with electronics and coding.

Explore and play with this interactive map created in collaboration with Some Kind of Hack Space and local neurodiverse young people. Together, we made modelling clay artworks, which were 3D scanned and brought to life in this virtual environment!

Virginie Tan

@oyvirginie  |  virginietan.com/

Virginie Tan (b. 1992, Saint-Denis) is an artist and designer based in London, French born of Sino-Cambodian descent. She works across the virtual and the physical, blending elements of interactivity, video, sound and poetry. Her practice explores the dynamics of technology and its impact on humans’ behaviours, between the technological sublime and the daze it puts us through. She graduated in 2017 from the MA Interaction Design at UAL – London College of Communication.

‘i got your mail’ is part of the series SCREENPOETRY, an invitation to revisit screensavers, intersecting poetry and digital art, encouraging the audience to let the screen be a still place again – a break from the constant feed and streaming.

Mia Harwood

@miaharwoodartist | www.miaharwood.com/

Mia Harwood (b.1999, London) is a visual artist working with painting and tufting techniques from her home in Hertfordshire. After graduating from Central Saint Martins with a BA in Fine Art, Mia’s work has continued to incorporate a playful element of making, through the arrangement of shapes and components. Mia’s work highlights her fixation with memories, visually recreating the sensory experience of love, intimacy and comfort. Nostalgic for mundane moments, Mia is worried they’ll pass her by without being able to fully appreciate them. But at the core lies a deeper, gut-wrenching nostalgia for her childhood; a time that is revisited through bright colours and playful, innocent processes. Through the making of work, she refuses to let that part of life go.

Lauren Little

@artoflol  |  www.artoflol.com/

Lauren Little is a multifaceted artist, educator, and curator originally from London, England. Her recent work explores fragmented portraiture, exploring themes of resilience and overcoming hardship, trauma and adversity. Lauren studied Fine Art and Education at the University of Calgary in Canada, where she resided for 14 years. While her journey has led her back to her roots in London, where she now lives as a full-time artist and curator, she cherishes her extensive experience as an art educator, having spent many years as an Art Lecturer at the University of Reading as well as teaching art to school-age children.

Chloe Murphy

@chloemurphy.art   |  chloemurphy.format.com 

Chloe is a figurative oil painter from Birmingham (b.1998), now living in London. In 2023 she quit her full-time job in Finance to pursue my dream of being a painter. In the past year, she’s moved into a studio in Brixton, created a cohesive body of work and have been featured in a magazine (t’Art, Issue Six). She has recently opened up to a more intuitive painting style, reflecting her journey in discovering the inner self.

Her practice is informed by realistic figurative painting, but with each painting she delves more into the surreal and abstract. Chloe is fascinated by hands and how they reveal our character. and loves to incorporate hands into portraits or allow them to exist in compositions on their own. She is interested in the subtle nuances of colour that lie not only in hands but all extremities (ears, feet) — these are a reminder of the complexity of being human. Chloe’s recent series of paintings is inspired by dreams and portrays herself in the midst of confusion and haste. Using a vibrant palette which implies a departure from material reality.

Steven Conner

@steven_conner_design  |  stevenconner.co.uk

After graduating with a HND Graphic Design from Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design in 1992, Steve has spent his career working in digital advertising for the music industry. He has always had a keen interest in music and fashion, taking inspiration from the defining British cultural movements of the 80’s and 90’s, as well as having a passion for photography and a particular interest in the portrayal of the human form through this medium. In recent years, Steve has tapped back into his talent and passion for the creative arts, and dug further into these interests that have been an enduring inspiration for him during his professional work. A strong body of artwork has been born out of those explorations.

The exhibited works are figurative collages textured and augmented with paint, inspired by brutalism and abstraction.

Stephen Keane

@keaneartstudio |  keaneartstudio.com

In 2005, Stephen felt a strong calling to return to painting, seeking to reconnect with the materiality of art and distance himself from screens and pixels. This decision led him to a painting studio in East London, where he now finds inspiration. Embracing his curious nature, he began experimenting with painting the human form, captivated by its inherent beauty, yet equally intrigued by the possibilities of distorting and abstracting its shape.

In his paintings, the body is significant, appearing in various forms of representation, suggestion, and even absence. Exploring this allows him to delve into the implications of abstract expressionist painting and its connection to the human form.

Moisés Moreno

@moisesmorenomoreno  |  www.moisesmoreno.net

Moisés (Cuenca, 1979) is an abstract painter whose work falls within the tradition of the Art Informel practitioners of the 1950s and 1960s who played such a decisive role in the development of art in Spain (Millares, Saura, Torner…). Despite having lived in London for more than a decade, he has never ceased to look to this dynamic group of artists as a reference point for his art, although he has also been influenced by the American Abstract Expressionists. Moisés studied draughtsmanship, something that is very present in his work, as his extensive knowledge of technical drawing is transferred to the paintings, presented in a seemingly random execution has behind it a very structured process in which each brushstroke and element is meticulously applied. His colour blindness and other serious visual impairments have never been an impediment to his work.

Moises’ works examine current societies and the way we live in them, both individually and collectively. Confusing societies that are the result of the hedonistic way to which we have become accustomed.

Jenny Ping Lam Lin

@Jason_liiin  |  pinglamlin.com

Jenny is a photography-based artist and her photographic style is characterised by the presentation of documentary images rooted in her senses and vision. She explores diverse experimental methods to showcase images, emphasizing the emotional interplay between images and individuals. Her thematic focus revolves around emotional expression, female growth, and pertinent social issues. Through her unconventional presentation techniques, she prompts viewers to challenge preconceived notions and expand their perspectives.

This series captures the embodiment of the emotional suppression experienced by East Asian women during their growth, confined by societal norms that entrap the soul. It’s not about rejecting our femininity or denying our identity as women.

Rashmi Gunathilaka

@miikklovin  |  @rashmiigunathilaka

Having relocated to the UK during his younger years and the challenges of navigating the labyrinth of emotions—fitting in, nostalgia, the complexities of adulthood, and relationships has inspired him to express himself though creating art. Rashmi sets out to create external eyes, observing a body of life, to provoke conversation on how we preserve ourselves and the collective human condition.

‘Yellow Love’ unfolds a visual narrative encapsulating the intricacies of ‘situationships’ and the silent heartbreak they carry.