Jill McKnight - The Many-Limbed Machine of my Ancestral Makers - as part of Life in a Northern Town - NewBridge Project

For the final exhibition of Life in a Northern Town, Leeds-based artist Jill McKnight has been paired with Newcastle-based artist Rene McBrearty. Both artists draw upon their individual and family history and experiences to explore themes such as identity, memory, family, women and gesture.

McKnight has created a sculptural installation in which a number of large scale mixed media sculptures are accompanied by a spoken text that visitors can listen to on telephone headsets. Through listening to the text, we are provided with a potted version of McKnight's family history. 

"McKnight’s ancestors emigrated from Ireland to Liverpool, then Sunderland, where they found employment in Northern industries, including shipyards, fish shops and a telephone factory. Born in Sunderland, McKnight now lives in Leeds, which is characterised by buildings that were once major sites of production, prior to deindustrialisation."

As we walk around the gallery listening to the spoken text and looking at the sculptures we are introduced to anecdotes that explain the significance of some of the elements featured within the sculptures. For example, the fact that McKnight's nana opened and ran a popular fish and chip shop that sold wet fish by day and takeaway fish and chips by night influenced her decision to make a sculpture using giant laser cut acrylic fish and chip shop disposable forks.



The dedication, commitment and hard-working nature of McKnight's ancestors has certainly been passed onto the artist. This is evidenced in the spoken text and is directly visible in one of the sculptures. In the spoken text she gives a detailed account of some of the time consuming menial tasks such as arranging economical transport for the work from Leeds to Newcastle and ordering materials online, that she does as part of her art-making process. I'm sure that many an artist listening to this will let out a groan in sympathy or nod their head in agreement as they hear about McKnight's exhaustion, and frustration with online shopping.

If visitors need further proof of McKnight's artistic work ethic they will find it in a sculpture made from printed CV's and job applications. Again, McKnight reveals the reality of being an artist - the need to have paid employment to be able to afford to practice as an artist.


I hope that I haven't given the impression that this is a 'doom and gloom' exhibition. The text is humorous and the sculptures are bright and playful. They clearly demonstrate that along with the hard work that goes into making the work, the artist gains pleasure and satisfaction from what she does. Long may that continue!

For more information please visit

https://thenewbridgeproject.com/events/rene-mcbrearty-jill-mcknight-life-northern-town/

Rene McBrearty - How to Remove a Single Strand Knot - as part of Life in a Northern Town - NewBridge Project

For the final exhibition of Life in a Northern Town, Newcastle-based artist Rene McBrearty has been paired with Leeds-based artist Jill McKnight. Both artists draw upon their individual and family history and experiences to explore themes such as identity, memory, family, women and gesture.

How to Remove a Single Strand Knot is Rene McBrearty's contribution to the exhibition.

McBrearty has created a new sculptural installation, presenting familiar McBrearty elements such as drawing, poetry, a riso printed zine, found objects and handmade sculptural forms alongside her first moving image work.

The setup reminds me of a domestic space with a comfy settee at the heart. Her sculptural forms are made from ceramic, leather and found materials. Ceramic shirt collars are draped over a clothes horse, and leather threads are piled on the floor. A number of other sculptures sit on a blouse that has been opened out on the floor. It is a casual arrangement with the suggestion that the process of making these objects took place in situ.

The video piece is situated in an old-fashioned larder. McBrearty and a number of other women of colour are sat round a kitchen table carrying out repetitive domestic actions such as polishing the table and kneading lumps of clay. The occasional subtitle reveals some of the conversations that take place as the women engage in their work.


The title refers to the fact that a single strand knot is found in afro hair and can prove difficult to remove. The removal of the knot becomes a metaphor for processing daily micro-aggressions and practicing self-care.

"The work thinks about the hidden labour carried out by women of colour while experiencing micro-aggressions which are everywhere, non-negotiable and relentless. The work explores the labour, productivity and the learning and unlearning of personal histories alongside the importance of sisterhood and community resilience in surviving. It is informed by her own experience, conversations with friends, her grandmother and the novel ‘Sula’ by Toni Morrison."

How to Remove a Single Strand Knot has been produced with the help of: Jola Olafimihan, Hannabiell Sanders, Wanjiru Mugo, Miles McBrearty, Matthew Pickering, Heather Bonnie Reid and Janina Sabaliauskaite.

For more information please visit 

https://thenewbridgeproject.com/events/rene-mcbrearty-jill-mcknight-life-northern-town/