Curated by Richard Matthews

This exhibition comprises a series of new collaborative sculptural works by South East artists May Hands and Hannah Lees, produced during a residency at Devonshire Collective’s gallery, VOLT, in September 2024. 

This is the third exhibition project by Devonshire Collective at Port. 

During their residency, the artists also held a ritual burning of sigil works, previously created at Collective Ending HQ, London. A sigil is a magical symbol, and once the sigil is created it must be destroyed to activate the intention and enter the unconscious mind.

The artists produced large-scale textile works in the previous collaboration and displayed here are sculptures, reworked from the original textiles into cordage reminiscent of umbilical cords and DNA strands to become sculptural “nests” ripe for new life.

Working collaboratively, the artists explore site-specific working and their ongoing mutual curiosity of ritual, death and rebirth. Together they are researching further rituals that happen during the wheel of the year to create a multifaceted installation of textiles, sculpture, and various natural ephemera.

‍