RIOT!/COLLECTIVE RAW

This ongoing series examines the volatile moment when protest becomes civil unrest. Through collage, painting, and photography, I explore the emotions and tensions that drive collective resistance, using news imagery, archival fragments, and personal marks to create layered narratives about how these moments are remembered.

Each piece captures different emotional registers—from electric anticipation to the claustrophobic intensity of police kettling. Bold gestures and dynamic lines show how individual agency dissolves into crowd behaviour, and how places like Whitehall become battlegrounds for competing social visions.

My materials embody the physical experience of collective action. I mix PVA glue into paint for viscous textures that feel like being caught in a crowd, stuck yet surging forward. Layered fixative spray creates smoky haze, evoking tension before the storm.

The work also explores identity and resistance through the expressive power of eyes and gaze. Through photographic studies and mixed-media portraits, I navigate the interplay between vulnerability and strength, celebrating the quiet acts of resistance found in how we look at each other across cultures.