I will live many years in this room

SET are delighted to announce ‘𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙢’, a solo exhibition from artist Ashleigh Fisk, with new writing by Gwen Dupré.

Opening on the leap year, a day often regarded as a fracture in standard time, the exhibition takes the historic practice of letter locking as its starting point – a method of intricately cutting and folding a written letter in order to seal it, thereby ensuring the secrecy of its contents and verifying the author’s identity.

Working in dialogue with writer and researcher Gwen Dupré, Fisk utilises craft and storytelling traditions to conjure objects infused with queered and collective histories: ceramics, iron-gall ink, and materials foraged near Fisk’s home in Sussex are enclosed and entrusted with messages of secret desire. SET Lewisham’s gallery will be recomposed as a domestic space, reflective of womens’ ubiquitous experiences of mental and physical confinement as well as comfort and solace. Furnishings, objects and stained glass create a playful, anachronistic room in which many lives, both real and imagined, have been lived.

Over the course of the show, the exhibition will host a series of public workshops and gatherings ranging from visual scribing and letter locking to queer reading groups. Dates and booking information to be announced.

Exhibition opens Thursday 29 February 6pm – 9pm

Exhibition continues Thursday – Sunday, 1.30pm – 6pm until 24 March

Supported using public funding from Arts Council England.

Work by @ashleigh_fisk and writing by @gwenrcdupre

#acesupported