Self can shade off into otherness gradually is a second collaboration between artists May Hands & Hannah Lees. The project held at VOLT gallery will offer comparison, contrast and reflection to their previous project, The material substance of their origin at Collective Ending HQ (London) held during Lughnasadh (1st August 2022).

As well as making new works the artists will also develop sigil textile works. Made together whilst at Collective Ending HQ, a sigil is a magical symbol, once the sigil is created it must be destroyed to activate the intention and enter the unconscious mind. The artists plan to hold a ritual burning of the sigil works and install the ash remains within the space.

The large-scale textile works will be re-worked into cordage reminiscent of umbilical cords and DNA strands to become sculptural “nests” ripe for new life. The artists will explore site-specific working and their ongoing mutual curiosity of ritual, death and rebirth. Exploring further rituals that happen during the wheel of the year to create a multifaceted installation of textiles, sculpture, and various natural ephemera during their time working together.
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Hannah Lees (b. 1983, Kent, UK. Lives and works in Margate, UK) investigates ideas of cycles, constancy and mortality; the sense that things come to an end and the potential for new beginnings. This constancy, be it in religion, science, history or in organic matter, is visible in her practice through her attempts to make sense of and recognise traces of life. Traditional processes, materials and rituals are often reworked to explore how ideas and beliefs can live, die and be reborn across times and Cultures.

May Hands (b.1990, Brighton, UK. Lives and works in Folkestone, UK) explores how our relationship with materiality shapes our understanding of the world. She documents and collects observations of the world around her through traditional craft-based techniques and the collecting and reinterpreting of objects. Reflecting upon seasonal cycles, sensuality and the inherently curated aspect of our everyday consumptions, her work questions how society constructs and articulates value and desire.