phoenix blog
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Beyond the Ivory Tower: The Illusion of Artistic Legitimacy
by Bobbie Frances Neutralised (from Conditions of Encounter series), completed in 2026 For some, artistic legitimacy must be granted by institutions in order to be valid. I went to the Royal College of Art seeking permission to call myself an artist. I didn’t find it....
Masks and Merriment
When the time came to take a new group photo, as usual we wanted to choose a theme to make it stand out and be more interesting. Our masks, which cover half of our faces and reflect something about our personalities or interests, introduce the new theme of “Traces”...
Inspirational Instagrammers I
In this occasional series, Phoenix members highlight a few of their favourite Instagrammers. Gone Rustic https://www.instagram.com/gonerustic/ Robertta enjoys the posts of Canadian born artist, Rita Summers, who now lives in Tasmania. Andrew James...
WORKING LARGE TO FIND SMALL, RANDOM DESIGNS
The members of Phoenix Contemporary Textiles meet up on the first Saturday of each month. We have a meeting in the morning and after lunch there is usually an activity organised by one of the members. Earlier this year we took inspiration from the work of Lena...
The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of its Parts
Working collaboratively is not only great fun and good for forming strong bonds within a group, but pooling our different skills, ideas and resources can create something more than the sum of its individual parts. These projects will often take on a life and energy of...
MYSTERIES OF SYNAESTHESIA
What is synaesthesia? (syn in ancient Greek means union and aesthesis sensation.) It is an involuntary and automatic neurological phenomenon, often lifelong, which refers to the blending of senses. It is not a disorder but a variation in perception, and can run in...
Seams Stressful: Two Newcomers Apply
Most application processes involve courage, determination and nervous energy. Hear how our two newest members, Hazel and Bobbie, navigated the experience with us. Hazel Cilia Upon first reviewing the application process to join Phoenix, I became anxious in...
An international group exhibition in London
by Marie Ghislaine Beauce For a few years now I have been invited by my mentor, Augusto from Capital Culture House, based in Madrid, who discovered my work on Instagram, to participate in exhibitions and art fairs all over the world. For the first time he had the...
WILD! BLOG 2
It’s not long now until we will be installing our WILD! exhibition at the Penny School Gallery in Kingston upon Thames, ready for its opening on the 4th November at 10am. We would of course love to see you all at the Gallery and say hello, but we realise this isn’t...
BEHIND THE SCENES OF AN EXHIBITION
As we approach the end of September and we are preparing for our latest exhibition which we set up at the beginning of November, Maria Walker shares some insights of what has been going on behind the scenes here. Exhibitions don’t just happen – they involve a lot of...