GALLERY 2
PRETTY – JESS PARRY
04 FEBRUARY – 22 APRIL
This solo exhibition by local Welsh artist Jess Parry, shares a new series of work that combines collage, embroidery and found materials to construct monstrous feminine forms.
Jess is fascinated by the filth and flesh that makes us human. Through painting, drawing, sculpture, performance, and digital media, she confronts the ideology that surrounds feminine body parts to unearth the grotesque.
In Pretty, she has broadened her practice to explore the typically gendered domestic craft of embroidery. Through her stiches, Jess disrupts expectations and traditions, creating works of sinister seduction through a process that is more commonly seen as beautiful and peaceful, rather than raw and confrontational.
Touch and the hand play an important role in Jess’s work. Through tracing the similarities between the hand of the artist, and that of the butcher, the seamstress, and the surgeon, she merges their approaches, combining creation and delicacy with violence and intimacy.
In this work Jess dissects the human body, zooming in to consider its details. Whether examining hands, nails, or mouths, the focus is on the expectations we have for each element to be perfect and pretty, despite often being overlooked in daily life. Subjectivity is also explored, as imperfections for some can be beauty for others. This leads us to question how we relate to, and understand, the body? Does it exist as an idea we construct and idealise in our imagination? Or is it confined to our own physical realities, the movement, aches, and processes that we continually perform and embody?
There will be an opening in the gallery on Saturday 4 February, 12-2pm, and it will run until the 22 April2023.
Jess is a member of our Youth Advisory Panel, and was part of Portal, our annual graduate show in 2020.
WORKSHOP
Jess will be hosting a drop-in embroidery workshop on Saturday 11 March, 10am-12pm in Gallery 2. Surrounded by her current exhibition Pretty, this session will create a space to reflect on the diversity of feminine forms, gender expression, and experiences, in recognition of International Women’s Day.
This workshop aims to create a safe and inclusive space for all.
