Photo by Jules Lister
I am an artist based in Manchester working across the visual and performing arts. Central to my artistic practice is the collaging and remixing of found media, driven by my interest in systems of language and representation. Much of my work is concerned with the fundamentals of performance, such as liveness, presence and the unfolding of a situation in time and space. I use stagecraft, choreography and the presence of audiences to create intimate, beguiling and at times unsettling events and environments characterised by dramatic suspense.
I am also a performer/director and enjoy interpreting the work of other artists across a variety of disciplines. Most recently I co-directed a production of Samuel Beckett’s Quad I + II with composer/conductor Jack Sheen for Refracted Sound, an event at the Southbank Centre produced by the London Sinfonietta. I have performed UK premieres of work by Yvonne Rainer and Vito Acconci, at venues such as Tate Britain, London Contemporary Music Festival and the Lowry (Salford).
I am one half of artist duo Rowland’s Leaving, with Darren Nixon.
From 2012 - 2022 I was founding director of the event series Video Jam.
I am also a performer/director and enjoy interpreting the work of other artists across a variety of disciplines. Most recently I co-directed a production of Samuel Beckett’s Quad I + II with composer/conductor Jack Sheen for Refracted Sound, an event at the Southbank Centre produced by the London Sinfonietta. I have performed UK premieres of work by Yvonne Rainer and Vito Acconci, at venues such as Tate Britain, London Contemporary Music Festival and the Lowry (Salford).
I am one half of artist duo Rowland’s Leaving, with Darren Nixon.
From 2012 - 2022 I was founding director of the event series Video Jam.
CVBorn 1989 in Leicester, lives and works in Manchester and Stockport
EDUCATION
MA Fine Art, Slade School of Fine Art, London, 2016 - 2018 [Distinction]
Foundation in Art and Design, Manchester School of Art, 2011 - 2012 [Distinction]
BA Drama and English, the University of Manchester, 2008 - 2011 [1st Class Honours]
SOLO AND DUO EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS
SET YOU FREE: A EUROTRANCE DEEP LISTENING WEEKEND, Full of Noises, Barrow-in-Furness, 2025
LOGICAL SONG, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester, 2024
HOST, with Darren Nixon, Pase Platform, Venice, 2024
100 VIDEOS, with Darren Nixon, Longsight Art Space, Manchester, 2023
100 VIDEOS, with Darren Nixon, curated by Lauren Velvick, Bath House Galleries, Huddersfield, 2023
DO YOU THINK YOU’RE BETTER OFF ALONE?, VIRTUALLYREALITY festival, Hamburg/Manchester, 2021
DO YOU THINK YOU’RE BETTER OFF ALONE?, The Royal Standard, Liverpool, 2021
PERFORMANCE TWO, curated by Elysia Lukoszevieze, PINK, Manchester, 2021
INTERJECTIONAL EXERCISES, The Portico Library, Manchester, 2019
OPERA, with Jack Sheen, curated by Zoe Watson, Holden Gallery, Manchester, 2019
INTERESTING TIMES, curated by Dyveke Bredsdorff, ilyd.nu, Copenhagen/London, 2019 [online]
ELSIE AND HANNAH, with Hannah Buckley, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, 2015
STUDIO, curated by Tess Denman Cleaver, The Northern Charter, Newcastle, 2015
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS & SCREENINGS
COMME CA ARTS X AWOL STUDIOS OPEN EXHIBITION, Manchester, 2025
THE SAME DEEP WATER AS YOU, PINK, Stockport, 2025
PAGE/STAGE/SPACE, curated by Motor Dance Journal, San Mei Gallery, London, 2024
DESIRE LINES PAVILION, curated by Proforma, Pase Platform, Venice, 2024
MANCHESTER OPEN, HOME, Manchester, 2024
54 PROGRAMME, curated by Tibyan Sanoh, New Cross, Manchester, 2024
UK NEW ARTISTS, Phoenix Arts Centre, Leicester, 2023
SUMMER CAMP, Eastside Projects, Birmingham, 2023
MICRONEME X Holden Gallery, curated by Zoe Watson, Wuhan Institute of Design, Wuhan, 2023
SET FILM FESTIVAL, SET Space, London, 2023
BANKLEY OPEN, Bankley Gallery, Manchester, 2023
THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL, Montez Press Radio, New York City, 2021
VISIONS IN THE NUNNERY, curated by Hetain Patel, Bow Arts, London, 2021
NOBODY’S ROOM, LUX x The Room Projects, Paris, 2021
HOLD ON, The Koppel Project, London, 2020
CORRESPONDANCE/CORRESPONDENCE, curated by Sam Meech, Videographé, Montreal, 2020
TIME CRUSH, 3 person show w/Dyveke Bredsdorff & Gray Wielebinski, Organon, Odense, 2019
FRACTO FILM ENCOUNTER, ACUD, Berlin, 2019
PRINTED MATTER’S LA ART BOOK FAIR, contributing artist, Museum of Contemporary art, LA, 2019
INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS’ BOOK FAIR, contributing artist, The Tetley, Leeds, 2019
LONDON RADICAL BOOK FAIR, contributing artist, Goldsmiths University, London, 2019
NEO:ART PRIZE, Bolton Museum and Art Gallery, Bolton, 2019
IN SO MANY WORDS, 3 person show curated by James Moss, Portico Library, Manchester, 2019
THREE, Rua Dom Carlos, Lisbon, 2018
AN ASSEMBLY, curated by Jack Sheen, Anthony Burgess Foundation, Manchester, 2018
SLADE SCHOOL OF ART DEGREE SHOW, London, 2018
MANY HARES RUNNING, Charlton Gallery, London, 2017
CINEMA FLUX, Flux Factory, New York City, 2017
A PIXEL OR DIGIT?, curated by Turf Projects, Parfitt Gallery, London, 2016
TRACING PAPER, Paper Gallery, Manchester, 2016
SCIENCE IN THE CITY FESTIVAL, Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester, 2016
LONDON SHORT FILM FESTIVAL, ICA, London, 2015
FOKUS VIDEO FEST, Copenhagen Contemporary Arts Centre, Copenhagen, 2015
BROADCAST, Liverpool Small Cinema, Liverpool, 2015
PERFORMANCES
SET YOU FREE: A EUROTRANCE DEEP LISTENING EVENT, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester, 2025
UNDERLINE III, Beyond Beck Road, Open House Festival, London, 2024
BASKET 3, curated by Bryony Dawson, SOUP, Manchester, 2023
SALAMAGUNDY, curated by Mark Leckey, Dreamland, Margate, 2022
SOUNDINGS, Raven Row, London, 2019
POST PARADISE, curated by Maya Verlaak, Centrala, Birmingham, 2019
AGAINST THE RUN OF PLAY, St Paul’s House, Deptford Market Yard, London, 2019
ARCHWAY SOUND SYMPOSIUM, 5 Years Gallery, London, 2019
THE HAND OF THE ARTIST, curated by Roaming Room, The Old Telephone Exchange, London, 2018
BODY AS ARCHIVE, Slade Research Centre, London, 2018
VISIBLE SPEECH, The Portico Library, Manchester, 2018
PROGRESS/REGRESS, Crypt Gallery, London, 2017
AUTHENTIC TONGUES, curated by Georgia Lucas-Going, Bloomsbury Theatre, London, 2017
SMALL PRESS SOUND PROJECT, The Woburn Centre, London, 2017
EMERGENCY FESTIVAL, with Jack Sheen, Z-Arts, Manchester, 2017
ABEERANCE, with Jack Sheen, Platform Southwark, London, 2016
PRAXIS, with Tomi Rose, The Advisory, London, 2015
TAPE TALK, with Michael Cutting, Splendor, Amsterdam, 2015
TAPE TALK, with Michael Cutting, Mayhem, Copenhagen, 2015
FLATPACK, curated by Amy Lawrence, Federation House, Manchester, 2015
FLUXUS, with Tomi Rose and Otto Wilberg, Contact Theatre, Manchester, 2015
AWARDS & GRANTS
Comme Ca Art x AWOL Studios Exhibition Overall Winner, 2025
Castlefield Gallery Artist Professional Development Award, 2024
Shortlisted for Jerwood & MAYK Award, 2023
Jerwood Bursary, 2019
a-n Artist Bursary, 2019
Dean’s Fund, Slade School of Fine Art, 2018
Manchester Culture Award, 2018
Nominated for the Acme Studio Award, 2018
The Clare Winsten Memorial Award, Slade School of Fine Art, 2017
UCL Changemakers Grant, 2017
Shortlisted for the Sekforde House Trust Scholarship, 2017
Creative Skillset Grant, 2015
Shortlisted for a Sky Arts Scholarship, 2015
RESIDENCIES & SCHEMES
PASE Platform, Venice, with Darren Nixon, 2024
Hospitalfield, Arbroath, Scotland, 2023
Abingdon Studios, Blackpool, with Darren Nixon, 2023
UK New Artists, 2022
The Exchange, co-organised by Eastside Projects, 2021
Flux Factory, New York City, 2017
Inventory, London, with Jack Sheen, 2017
Snape Maltings, Aldeburgh, 2016
Brighter Sound development scheme with musician Anna Meredith, Manchester, 2016
Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester 2015
Paper Gallery, Manchester, 2015
BFI and LUX Experimenta Forum, 2014
DIRECTION, DRAMATURGY AND PERFORMANCE WORK
QUAD I & II by Samuel Beckett, co-director, Queen Elizabeth Hall, produced by London Sinfonietta, London, 2024
JOHN CAGE: MAYBE EVEN BEYOND THE DELTA, performer, The Lowry, Salford, 2019
WILD LANDS by Amy Lawrence, performer, The Portico Library, Manchester, 2019
POEM FOR CHAIRS, BENCHES, TABLES ETC. by La Monte Young, performer, LCMF, London, 2019
WORK FOR WOUNDED FURNITURE by Alison Knowles, performer, LCMF, London, 2019
WE SHALL RUN by Yvonne Rainer, performer and choreographer, LCMF, London, 2018
BOOK CONCERTO IN ONE ACT by Elizabeth S. Clark, performer, LCMF, London, 2018
VISIBLE SPEECH, facilitator and performer, The Portico Library, Manchester, 2018
THE MASTER’S TOOLS WILL NOT DISMANTLE THE MASTER’S HOUSE by Rosa Johan Uddoh, performer, Tate Britain, 2018
TAPE PIECE by Maya Verlaak and Andy Ingamells, performer, Slade Research Centre, 2018
WHY ARE ALL MY TUTORS WHITE, BABY by Rosa Johan Uddoh, performer, Widening the Gaze Conference, the Slade, 2018
TAPE PIECE by Maya Verlaak and Andy Ingamells, performer, LCMF, London, 2017
EAR ACTION by Neo Hülcker and Stellan Veloce, performer, LCMF, London, 2017
FLECK FLOB FLOP by Joe Snape, co-director and script advisor, 9-part UK/EU tour, 2015
PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENTS
The University of Leeds BA Fine Art - Guest Mentor, 2024
Manchester Contemporary Youth Opera - Collaborative Opera Lab Guest Mentor, 2023
Manchester School of Art MA Filmmaking - Artist Talk, 2023
The University of Westminster “Dialogues Project” - Panel Speaker, 2023
The University of Westminster “A Crisis of Culture to a Crisis of Learning” conference - Panel Speaker, 2021
Contact Theatre, Manchester - Youth Workshop Leader, 2020
Manchester School of Art BA Filmmaking - Guest Mentor, 2019
Manchester School of Art Move Film Festival - Judge and Guest Mentor, 2019
Manchester School of Art Filmmaking BA Talent Lab - Masterclass Leader, 2019
Manchester Deaf Centre - Workshop Leader, 2019
The Lived Female Body in Performance, Live Art Bistro, Leeds - Panel Contributor, 2019
TENT Academy Awards Film Festival, Rotterdam - Judge and Guest Mentor, 2018
Brighter Sound, Manchester - Workshop Leader, 2016
HOME, Manchester - Artist Talk, 2016
A.M, London - Artist Talk, 2016
Blaze Festival, Burnley Library - Workshop Leader, 2016
Blaze Festival, Accrington Library - Workshop Leader, 2016
Northern Film + Media, Tyneside Cinema - Artist Talk, 2016
Whitworth Young Contemporaries - Artist Talk, 2016
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS / PRESS
THE SAME DEEP WATER AS YOU AT PINK by Kristy Stott, Creative Tourist, 2025
CULTURES OF SOUND by Rowan Bailey, the University of Huddersfield Press, 2024
FAILING BETTER, SOUNDING AGAIN: BECKETT AND FELDMAN AT THE SOUTHBANK CENTRE, Bachtrack, 03/12/24
THEN THERE WAS US Issue 4, 2024
'Spotlight: Artists and Sustainability' - Rowland Hill, Castlefield Gallery 21/02/24
Logical Song review by Desmond Bullen, Northern Soul 15/02/24
MOTOR DANCE JOURNAL: DUETS AND DIALOGUES, 2023
INTERRUPTIONS: SOUNDS published by the Holden Gallery, 2022
MATERNAL PERFORMANCE: FEMINIST RELATIONS by Lena Šimić and Emily Underwood-Lee, Palgrave MacMillan, 2022
HOLD ON exhibition catalogue, The Koppel Project, London, 2021
AMBIT ISSUE 238, 2019
STILL LIFE ISSUE 4: WAYS TO DISAPPEAR, published by UnBound, 2019
‘On Location: An assembly’, The Wire, Issue 418 - review of Tha-at’s right, 2019
‘Trip Report: An Assembly play Charlie Usher and Rowland Hill’, Boring like a Drill, 16/10/18
‘Ten Artists to Watch’, Elephant, 24/07/18
‘Rowland Hill’s Digital Relics and Provocation’, 5 Questions, Elephant, 09/07/18
SEARCHING FOR A NEW INTIMACY AT LONDON CONTEMPORARY MUSIC FESTIVAL, Frieze, 20/12/17
COLLECTIONS
The Portico Library, Manchester
The Delia Derbyshire Day Archive, The University of Manchester
SELECTED CURATION
THE SAME DEEP WATER AS YOU, PINK, Stockport, 2025
THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL, Montez Press Radio, NYC, 2021
SPACES-IN-BETWEEN, RNCM, commissioned by the British Council, Manchester, 2020
SOUNDINGS, Raven Row, London, 2019
VIDEO JAM X BASQUIAT, closing event for Basquiat: Boom for Real, Barbican Hall, London, 2018
VISIBLE SPEECH, with Manchester Deaf Centre, The Portico Library, Manchester, 2018
BODY AS ARCHIVE, Slade Research Centre, 2018
I curated 50+ Video Jam events between 2012-2020, including at the Knockdown Centre, Brooklyn, NYC (2017); Flux Factory, Queens, NYC (2017); Manchester Museum with the Wellcome Collection (2017); RNCM, Manchester (2017); FACT, Liverpool (2016); Colombo Art Biennale, Sri Lanka (2016); Brighter Sound, Manchester (2016); BBC Philharmonic, Salford (2016); Sounds from the Other City, Salford (2016); Islington Mill, Salford (2016); Bury Art Museum (2016); Central Library, Manchester (2016); Islington Mill, Salford (2015); Manchester Art Gallery (2015); Manchester Jewish Museum (2015); Whitworth Art Gallery opening weekend (2015); Blaze Festival, Accrington (2015); Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester (2015); Hyperlocal Festival, Argentina (2015); Whitworth Young Contemporaries (2015); The Vaults, London (2014); Wharf Chambers, Leeds (2014); Kazimer, Liverpool (2014); SOUP, Manchester (2014); Manchester Art Gallery (2014); Fat Out Fest, Salford (2014); Concourse Arts Festival, Falmouth University (2014); Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle (2014); Rule of 3, Islington Mill, Salford (2013); Blankspace, Manchester (2013); Anthony Burgess Foundation, Manchester (2013); Whitworth Art Gallery closing weekend (2013); Abandon Normal Devices, Liverpool Cathedral (2013); CANVAS, Ibiza (2013); Manchester School of Art (2013); RNCM (2013); Antwerp Mansion (2012-2013).
As a curator I have curated and commissioned the work of hundreds of artists, filmmakers, composers and musicians including the estate of Jean Michel Basquiat, Sondra Perry, Jennifer Walshe, Dieter Moebius, Onyeke Igwe, Topher Campbell, Saodat Ismailova, Joe Namy, Danielle Brathwaite Shirley, Anton Lukoszevieze, Maryam Tafakory, Soda_Jerk, Hetain Patel and SLIP imprint.