Through the combined mediums of photography, textile, and sculpture, artist Isabel English extends from the literary genre of autofiction – merging autobiographical truths with fictionalised renderings – to create contextually sensitive installations. Drawing on the architecture of the home, they fuse sites of personal significance with the politics of psychology. Body and building become analogous: the body acts as an architecture housing emotional interiority, while the building aspires to protect those who dwell within it.

In autofiction, the author shields themselves from true representation. This shield, a type of representational gauze or armour, acts as a layer upon which intimacies and vulnerabilities can be tried but not proven true or false. This refuge is where my practice exists, proposing these through a sensitive arrangement of objects, both found and fabricated. The exhibition first-person, extends on this, whilst also acknowledging the narrative style in which a protagonist relates their story using the pronoun ‘I’, offering a direct and intimate connection to the narrator’s experiences and thoughts.
– Isabel English

Isabel English’s website