Back to the Waves by Kelly Mackenzie Sinclair

Exhibitions

Friday 11th September 10:00am – Sunday 10th October 2021 4:00pm

God's House Tower, Town Quay Road, Southampton, SO14 2NY

About the Work

In September 2021, for her first major solo show, Kelly presented a new body of work at ‘a space’ arts’ headline venue, God’s House Tower. In the lead up to the exhibition however, Kelly suffered a period of ill health. Working closely with the ‘a space’ team, Kelly adapted her plan for the show and exhibited a series of drawings, a collection of poetry and a work-in-progress: a short film titled Back to the Waves. A year on and Kelly has recovered from her injury and completed the film.

Back to the Waves explores a personal narrative of Kelly moving away from her first home in Edinburgh and finding a second home here in Southampton. Through poetry, audio, and moving image, the artist considers the chaos of being separated from her motherland and how she found the sea to be constant amongst tremendous change. The film also responds to the theme of GHT’s 2021 programme, GHT: Beside the Sea, which prompted us to consider how significant changes to the shoreline have shaped our modern city.

You can watch Kelly’s film Back to the Waves over on the ‘a space’ arts YouTube channel here

Back to the Waves was written and directed by Kelly Mackenzie Sinclair and commissioned by ‘a space’ arts and exhibited at God House Tower in Autumn 2021.

About the Artist

Kelly Mackenzie Sinclair’s multidisciplinary practice responds to the wider sociological significance of her own life experiences. The personal is political. She writes poetry, creates drawings and makes films about relationships, trauma and the complicated culture surrounding the fat, female body.