For the month of March 2022, the Genesis Cinema Gallery will be taken over by 11 fantastic female-identifying artists to share their experience of womanhood through their art practices and offer up their identity and experiences of being a woman, in celebration of Women’s Month and International Women’s Day

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If you’re a London-based artist and would like to exhibit your work, apply now

Karen Byrne

Karen Byrne is a London based artist.  Her practice moves between media encompassing sculptural work in textiles, stitch and print, drawing, video and installation. “Work emerges conceptually or through the act of making – each feeding the other in a self-perpetuating cycle.” Recent work explores language and cultural stereotypes that constrain human behaviour and shape societal expectations particularly as they relate to women.  “I give form to words making real what is expressed verbally , highlighting meaning and through humour and surprise diffuse the ability to hurt and control.”  After her BA (Hons) Fashion at Middlesex University, Byrne rose to become a Strategy Director in the branding Industry before returning to the art world.  Interested in human motivations and identity she has studied psychology at Birkbeck College along with further education in textiles and contemporary art practice.

Natalie Kay Thrasivoulou

I am East London born and raised, from a Greek Cypriot and Indian heritage, living on a boat in Hackney. Life for me has been a rich and wild experience of ups and downs and I find solace in many art forms. I make music, experiment with video and photography, and enjoy mixing art forms and mediums especially painting to express and process. I am also a yoga teacher and intuitive sound healer believing deeply in the healing powers of all forms of artistic expression. Living with both physical and mental health conditions has been difficult and eye opening. Societal norms around what success is has always felt strange to me. Creating artwork has offered me peace and clarity in a world that has oftentimes felt overwhelming and confusing. I’m self taught and to me art is therapy and should be available to everyone regardless of background, experience, or funding.

Patricia Tavares

Patrícia Tavares is Brazilian, she was born in the landlocked state of Minas Gerias, in a traditional and conservative family of coffee farmers. She has always enjoyed the wild in nature, the outdoors and challenging physical activities. At university, she studied arts, film and television. Thereafter, she worked in television for over 26 years. At some point, she decided to refocus and upgrade her fine art studies. She is curious, strong and a little rebel. She likes people and their life stories – she is very interested in discussing the current condition of women. How does she faces her challenges of being an Latin artist, an immigrant, a wife, a mother and middle age? She uses art as a voice, to be present in time, with her life scars, participating and keeping herself sturdy despite the sexist and patriarchal society.

Oriana Jemide

I am a British Nigerian multidisciplinary creative and creative entrepreneur working within visual arts and creative writing . She is a BA Fine Art First Class graduate and a landscape and textile artist. A therapeutic art life coach, I am passionate about the tangible impact creativity has on people not just through consumption but creation. My journey is one of empowering people through therapeutic art, creative education and entrepreneurial self-development.

Ellie Bird

I was a primary school teacher for 20 years up until the start of the pandemic when I left to pursue my painting passion. We built an art studio in the garden and now I spend my days and evenings painting, combined with some private teaching too. I find my painting practice completely therapeutic and find that it has really helped me find some calm and peace in my life especially after finding teaching so very stressful!  The idea that through my paintings I can provide the viewer with their own sense of tranquility, gives me huge joy.

Erin-Jae Golding

As the incredible Nina Simone once said, ‘Use your artistry to reflect the times’.  As an artist, my creativity (whether it is through my paintings and artworks, song writing or writing poetry) gives me an outlet to reflect on the subjects and issues that matter the most to me – from race and identity politics, gender inequality and mental health – and stimulate the conversations and positive changes that I want to be a part of and see. I strive for all of my creative work to contribute towards a future which has a more wholesome narrative and understanding of the society we live in every facet of British society – historically, today and incite positive change and transform perspectives.  After a tumultuous year which has illuminated the many cracks and inequalities within our society, it is more important than ever to galvanise our local communities, stimulate conversation and provide a platform through collective creativity to amplify marginalised voices and identities.  I am passionate about representing the unseen and unheard subjects in our society, especially women of colour, and I feel there is no better way for me to do this, than to showcase my work in the public domain which pays homage to Black womanhood, culture and identity.

Smita Sonthalia

Born and raised in India, I experienced ancient roots and vibrant culture closely, sparking my interest in art very early on. My love for painting and colors since childhood only got deeper by internalizing the various  art forms in the country as I traveled around, read & learnt about them. I pursued a Masters in Fine Arts to help learn some intricacies. Art is a very powerful tool. It tells stories without speaking a word. It can evoke a tsunami of emotions in your heart or can calm and relax your mind. It not only opens up creativity and imagination, but also helps develop focus and concentration. My paintings are my best friends, philosophers and guides and I enjoy every moment when I have a brush in hand. I primarily draw inspiration from nature, spiritualism and women. These subjects have immense depth and are close to my heart. Most of my paintings are mixed media; I experiment with textures, layers, inks, lines, patterns to create a unique piece each time. I have been painting for 18 years. Paintings motivate me constantly to live my dream – creating art and spreading my wings on canvas. Painting is love, work, play, meditation and prayer for me.

Coco Warner-Allen

I am from London, born and bred, and I went to UCL to study History of Art before deciding that I wanted to create my own, rather than just write about it and study it. I am currently undertaking an MA in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art. I believe that everyone is put on this earth for a purpose, and mine is to create things that make people, especially women, feel safe to share their own experiences. I am an avid feminist and my favourite thing to do is to discuss and debate contemporary gender based issues with my friends and peers. Having also studied on the Graduate Diploma course at Chelsea during the pandemic, I have spent a lot of time considering myself, my identity, and my place in the world and I want to express what I have discovered through my work.

Alexandra Pullen

I am a multidisciplinary artist currently based in London. I am working in a range of media including drawing, writing, photography and painting, woven together through a compulsion to create. I studied at the Ruskin, Oxford, and later at the Royal College of Art, and have subsequently been reassessing my approach to life and work through a long period of learning and recovery from life events and health issues. It is these experiences that are driving my current practice, along with a great love of art history and theory. I want to explore how art can be a light, a trigger, or a necessary shock to the system, revealing truth and pain, and provoking change in the human heart. I’m currently trying to be led through work by intuition and feelings, and am hoping to explore the lines between fleeting sensations and deep set feelings and obsessions.

Nasima Bibi

Studying at the University of Bedfordshire, l achieved a BA Honours in Fine Art. I traditionally worked as an acrylic and pencil sketch artist, but in the last 2 years I moved on to creating digital based artwork, teaching myself and developing my skills in this medium. The general theme around my work is rooted from the creative phrasing, lingo and lyrics we use and hear in our daily life. I try to represent them from my own understanding of them visually. In 2019 I achieved first place in the Procreate Art Prize, which spurred me on to verge deeper into the digital art world and through the pieces I’ve been creating in the last few years, I am pushing to get my work out there to a wider audience.

Sophie Peters

Sophie graduated with a first class BSc in Liberal Arts and Sciences with a major in Biological Science in 2019 from the University of Birmingham, UK. In 2018 she studied abroad in New Orleans, during which she began to explore the world as an artist, discovering a deep love for the Louisiana city, and moving to live in the USA from 2019-2021. She is currently working towards an MA in Fine Art: Digital at University of the Arts London, Central St Martins. Peters works between the USA and the UK as a dual citizen, investigating current affairs, queer, female and non binary experience and sexual assault through a variety of media.