Under the category of Inspiration, I’m adding some posts on some of the most inspiring exhbitions I have seen.
William Kentridge: The Pull of Gravity is on until 19 April 2026. I got to see it in September and will be returning again. I loved the focus on Kentridge’s sculptural works and the interconnection with other areas of his practice, such as drawing, printmaking and the wonderfully quirky and reflective films set in the artist’s studio.
William Kentridge’s work ‘Ladder Horse’ (2023), in Pull of Gravity
This is a huge exhibition, outside in the sculpture park gardens and in the Underground Gallery. It includes prototypes and small pieces, as well as the giant sculptures in the surrounding gardens.
One of Kentridge’s ‘Paper Procession’ sculptures
I found this work so inspiring because of the insight into its creation: the thought processes, the development and presentation. I’ve noticed that I’m particularly drawn to sculptors who print, including Barbara Hepworth and Eduardo Chillida.
Threads of Expression, an exhibition in Chester, is the culmination of a year of exploration by six North West based artists, whose work spans photography, printmaking, textile arts and painting. All have spent 2024/25 at the University of Chester developing new work, learning new skills and taking their practice forward in their chosen areas, as part of the national AA2A Project. Now, those creative threads converge with a showcase of work, on a range of themes, some intertwined, some unique.
The exhibition runs from 4 – 18 July 2025, at the CASC Gallery in Chester’s Grosvenor Shopping Centre. There’s a Private View on Friday 4 July, 4-6pm.
AA2A is a national scheme which offers artists the chance to access facilities in universities and colleges, and students the chance to learn more about practising artists and the wider creative industries. More information at www.aa2a.org
Carolyn is showing new laser cut fragile structures for the first time. These 3D paper sculptures combine traditional printmaking skills and digital technology.
CASC Gallery, Grosvenor Shopping Centre, Chester CH1 1DE
Open Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays 10am to 4pm.
Carolyn Murphy will be in the RA Summer Exhibition 2025. Her artwork ‘Mixed Messages’ , a collagraph landscape, was selected from the 18,000 works submitted and will be on display at the Royal Academy in London, from 17 June until 17 August 2025.
Carolyn Murphy at the RA Summer Exhibition 2025 with her work
Held every year since 1769, the Summer Exhibition showcases work by Royal Academicians, experienced artists and emerging talent. Many works are available to buy and sales directly support exhibiting artists and the RA’s charitable work. The exhibition remains online until the end of November 2025 and work can be browsed and purchased on the RA website.
Carolyn last exhibited at the Summer Exhibition in 2023. “It’s a dream come true to be back so soon!”, she said and was able to visit the exhibition to see her work in Gallery VIII, curated by Sikelela Owen RA.
‘Mixed Messages’, a collagraph by Carolyn Murphy
Tickets on sale at www.royalacademy.org.uk and opening times are Tues – Sun: 10am – 6pm, Fri: 10am – 9pm.
Carolyn Murphy regularly runs linocut workshops in Manchester with fellow printmaker Cate Gibson. The pair run the workshops at Sett Art Cafe, on Burton Road, in West Didsbury, a music and art space, with a lively events programme. Individuals can purchase tickets through the Eventbrite page on Sett’s website. There are dates out now for March and April.
Linocut workshop at Sett Art Cafe
The local printmakers have also run introduction to linocut workshops at Didsbury Parsonage. All materials are provided for the workshops, which tend to be 2.5 to 3 hours in length. Carolyn and Cate guide participants through how to create, cut and print their own linocut design. It’s a fun, informal printmaking session, that’s designed for adult beginners. They suggest people come with an idea or image – and wear clothes they don’t mind getting messy in.
Carolyn and Cate also organise group linocut workshops, normally for six to ten people. So, if you’re thinking of a workplace creative activity, either as part of a team building or staff wellbeing day, or for a group of friends, this is an activity that everyone can enjoy. Charity organisation Our Room Manchester included a workshop as part of their staff wellbeing day earlier this month. They provided the following feedback:
“Our staff team thoroughly enjoyed the linocutting workshop with Carolyn and Cate. It was the perfect balance between relaxing and challenging – we were absorbed in the process and loved learning a new skill! It was great to have a laugh together and come away with lovely pieces of artwork. The session was just what we needed for our wellbeing day and we’d highly recommend it!”
Carolyn and Cate announce linocut workshop dates on their social media. You can follow Carolyn on Instagram here. Alternatively, you can get in touch for a quote to your specific requirements, using the Contact page.
Carolyn Murphy received an Artists’ Bursary award in 2024/5 from a-n, The Artists Information Company. This allowed her to document her solo exhibition ‘Layer over Layer’ at The Stone Space, with professional photographer Ellie Laycock, capturing individual pieces in the show as well as installation views of the exhibition and private view shots.
“This is an exciting development, at just the right time. I’m really grateful to a-n, for the opportunity to enhance my practice and capture my work in this way, helping me to take my work to the next level”, explained Carolyn.
The project included photography and videography and is the first part of the bursary request, which also included website development work. Below are some of the images of Carolyn Murphy’s work in ‘Layer over Layer’:
‘Layer over Layer’ is Carolyn’s first solo exhibition and it took place at The Stone Space gallery, in Leytonstone, East London, from 13 February to 9 March 2025. The exhibition featured printmaking works on paper, including large-scale print installations and 3D sculptural floor pieces.
Photographs by Ellie Laycock, supported by a bursary from a-n, The Artists Information Company.
Artist printmaker Carolyn Murphy’s first solo exhibition comes to The Stone Space gallery, in Leytonstone, East London. Layer over Layer features printmaking works on paper, including large-scale print installations and 3D sculptural floor pieces.
Inspired by the landscape and by a poem, ‘Tissue’ by Imtiaz Dharker, that links paper with skin, the exhibition title references layered print processes, layers of meaning, time and memory. Works in the show question appearances, illusions of stability and control, exploring ideas of damage and repair.
The exhibition runs from 13 February to 9 March 2025 and is open at weekends only: Saturdays 10am to 4pm and Sundays 12 to 4pm.
Works include ‘No Stone Unturned’, a collection of over 100 folded-hand-printed structures, suggesting the solidity of rock, precariously stacked. ‘A World We Share?’ takes over the gallery space, whilst ‘Lightly Tethered’, a kite installation, captures a sense of fragility.
The Stone Space is an independent not-for-profit gallery in Leytonstone, close to Leytonstone tube station on the Central Line. Opened in 2011, it occupies part of the ground floor of the Leytonstone Library Building. It is staffed by volunteers and led by a group of volunteer organisers who plan the exhibition programme.
Private view: Thursday 13 February 18.00 to 20.00
Artist’s Talk: Sunday 2 March 14.00 to 15.00
Gallery address: 6 Church Lane, Leytonstone E11 1HG
Photos by Ellie Laycock, supported by a bursary from a-n, The Artists Information Company.
Artist Carolyn Murphy will be part of the Fankle Art Collective’s RESPUN exhibition at the Durning Library in Kennington this December. It’s an adaptation of their successful UNSPUN show (Willesden Gallery, June 2024) to a new space with a revised line up of work. RESPUN opens with a private view on Wednesday 4 December, from 5.30pm – 7.30pm.
‘Lightly tethered’ by Carolyn Murphy
Nine artists from the Fankle Collective focus on making, remaking, spinning and transformation. RESPUN brings together ideas of deconstruction and rebuilding, disconnection and reconnection, fragmentation of language and communication. In the show, Fankle members unravel and re-spin stories over time, mythology and place, exploring migration, home and belonging, our relationship to nature and the non-human.
Poster for RESPUN exhibition
As narratives emerge, tangling and untangling, visitors are reminded of the idea that a world of life is woven from physical and emotional strands, overlapping, contrasting, constantly changing and fragile.
Fankle is a multidisciplinary art collective formed in 2023 by emerging artists from the Middlesex University MA Fine Art and MA Printmaking programmes. This show encompasses diverse media, including printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, collage and photography.
‘Transplant’ by Jan Pimblett
The group’s name ‘Fankle’, a Scottish word for entanglement, reflects the complex web of ideas that combine in their shows and the varied generational and geographic origins of their members, with threads extending to Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Berlin, Munich, Baghdad, Tehran and Mexico City.
Exhibiting artists in RESPUN: Maryam Abdollahi, Phil Dunn, Angela Forrester, Carolyn Murphy, Iliana Ortega-Alcázar, Jan Pimblett, Hanan Tawfiq, Kathy Rooney, Luke Anthony Rooney.
Further information: www.fankle.art Instagram @fankle.art
RESPUN runs from 4 December 2024 to 2 January 2025. The gallery is on the ground floor of the Durning Library, a 10-minute walk from Kennington underground station (Northern line). Open Mondays 1 – 6pm, Tuesdays 10am – 6pm, Wednesdays 10am – 8pm, Thursdays closed, Fridays 10am – 6pm, Saturdays 9am – 5pm, Sundays closed. Please check the library website for Christmas opening hours.
Carolyn Murphy is an AA2A Artist in Residence in Chester this year, joining the University of Chester as part of the AA2A Project scheme. Residencies provide access to state-of-the-art resources and a collaborative environment for professional practice development, whilst enriching the academic environment for students. This year, AA2A is celebrating 25 years of delivering residency programmes through art and design institutions across England.
“In this residency, I plan to develop further the installation side of my practice, bringing together traditional print processes with digital technology, such as laser cutting, to take forward my interest in fragile structures,” Carolyn explained. “I love to learn and to share knowledge and I hope to continue to do this through the AA2A residency, and connect with a wider learning community through printmaking.”
Carolyn Murphy with some of her installation works, Mile End Art Pavilion, July 2022
The residency at the University of Chester runs from October 2024 to summer 2025. There are six resident artists, bringing diverse disciplines and experiences to the programme. In December the AA2A artists put on an exhibition in Chester city centre, at the University’s CASC Gallery, to introduce themselves and their practice to students and staff.
‘Reclaiming’, on display at CASC Gallery, Chester, December 2024Carolyn Murphy’s installation ‘No Stone Unturned VII’ in the window of the Chester exhibitionVisitors to the galleryArtists’ talks to staff and students, December 2024AA2A coordinator Greg Fuller talks about the work on show
During the year, Carolyn will be sharing updated on her Instagram page, as the residency progresses and she experiments with new techniques.
Post updated with exhibition images – December 2024.
Carolyn Murphy will be exhibiting at the Festival of Print, at Mile End Art Pavilion this year. The Festival is an annual celebration of printmaking, organised by East London Printmakers to showcase members’ work and share the joy of print.
Poster for Festival of Print 2024
The Festival of Print 2024 opens on Friday 25 October and runs until Sunday 3 November. At the Opening night printmaker Paul Catherall was the guest speaker and presented prizes on behalf of the sponsors.
Carolyn Murphy at the Opening with her monotypes
This was Carolyn’s first time exhibiting with East London Printmakers, since becoming an Associate Member in 2023. She also volunteered to support the hanging team of this huge exhibition, which included 99 printmakers. There is an array of excellent contemporary print, for sale, as well as a box set and plenty of cards.
Installation view of the OpeningInstallation viewOpening nightMile End Art Pavilion’s Festival of Print 2024
Entry is free to all. Opening times are 11am to 6pm Friday 25 October to Saturday 2 November and 11am to 4pm on Sunday 3 November at Mile End Art Pavilion, Mile End Park, Clinton Road, Mile End, London E3 4QY.
Carolyn Murphy has work in ‘Inkscapes’ at the Horsebridge in Whitstable, Kent. The Printmakers Council has selected and curated the exhibition, which is inspired by ideas of landscape, and a sense of place, including Whitstable itself. ‘Still Recovering’, is a collagraph which connects human activity to issues of damage and repair of the environments we share.
‘Still Recovering’ an original collagraph by Carolyn Murphy
‘The image is based on an area near Rivington Pike, in the North West. So it’s not local to Whitstable – but it reflects on the impact of human activity on place’, Carolyn explained. ‘The damage of fire is sudden and devastating, and it often takes decades for the ecology to truly recover. It’s not just about the visible surface.’
All the work in the show is free to view and available to purchase. ‘Inkscapes’ runs from 11 – 23 September 2024 at The Horsebridge, 11 Horsebridge Road, Whitstable CT5 1AF.
There is a private view on Saturday 14 September, from 12 – 4pm, and many of the artists will be there to talk about their work. Everyone is very welcome! Opening times are: Monday to Saturday 9am – 5pm (closed Tuesdays), Sunday 10am – 4pm.
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