Umulkhayr Mohamed

Umulkhayr Mohamed is a Welsh Somali artist, writer, and independent curator, who also produces work under the alias, Aisha Ajnabi, their art other. They are a member of the Black Curators Collective, a collective of Black women and non-binary curators in the UK that radically imagine—through practice—nurturing, sustainable structures which prioritise the needs of Black creatives and communities. Their artistic practice explores the tension between enjoying the act of inhabiting emancipatory temporalities and a functional need to position oneself in the now. Their work has been featured in The National Museum of Wales, Festival of Voice, MOSTYN, Oriel Myrddin Gallery, Seren Cardiff Poetry Festival, LUMIN 4, and Maps & Rooms: an anthology.

Hira Mansur

b. 1985, Lahore, Pakistan. 2013 MFA, Slade School of Fine Art, University College London, United Kingdom.

“Hira Mansur creates multi-medium miniature artworks that impress a commitment to the delicate, particularly upon closer inspection her use of watercolour and needle piercing. This commitment not only speaks to a mastery of technique, but also seems to be in homage to the patience her adopted mother found in sewing while she waited for Hira’s adoption process to be completed. The hyper-realistic figures that populate her work are left in an incomplete abstracted state, sometimes surrounded by equally abstracted depictions of sewing apparatus, nature, and home life, leaving you to wonder what the connections that thread them all together are.”

Artwork Image: Synthesis, 2016. Watercolour on wasli. 6 3/4 x 96 in.

Naomieh Jovin

b. 1995, Philadelphia, PA, USA. 2017 BFA, Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia, PA, United States

“Naomieh Jovin’s practice presents the rich visual culture of her Haitian-American diaspora community, with her’s source material being old family photographs that she adapts as a way to resist these images being read as dated and unimportant. Familial absence and community erasure are made playfully visible as brightly-coloured cut out figures replace individuals at a gathering and heads are made to float, disembodied, above sofas in living rooms. When not reworking these images of her family, the artist reproduces the striking intimacy by producing new portraits of herself as a means to embody a making-space for the future of her lineage.”

Artwork Image: The Gathering, 2021.

Ulrik López

b. 1989, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“Ulrik López’s work is tied together with a neutral palette and the use of natural materials that have been woven or moulded into patterns in such a way that reveals an accomplished ability to balance the influence of human touch and nature's allure. Many of his artworks seem to function as generously open gestures towards ideas around communication through code. His practice presents an alternative visual language that is equally tied to heritage and feels refreshing in its ability to draw you in, whether it be with sculptures, installations, or performance work.”

Artwork Image: The day and night, 2021. Adobe and pine wood. 27 x 55 x 74 in.