103 Trongate
Sat 15 Aug · 15:00
Artist Talk - Aqsa Arif and Ayesha Jones in conversation with Arpita Shah 3pm Saturday 15th August 2026 Join us for a panel discussion with our two current exhibiting artists Ayesha Jones and Aqsa Arif, in conversation with photographic artist and educator Arpita Shah. This is a unique opportunity to gain insight into the projects currently on display in the gallery and to hear the artists reflect on the ideas, processes, and experiences that have shaped the work. The discussion will explore the connections between the two bodies of work, highlighting both their commonalities and distinct approaches. While each artist has their own story and unique visual language, they are united by a shared exploration of identity, particularly the experiences and misrepresentations of women. Aqsa Arif is an award-winning Scottish-Pakistani artist and filmmaker based in Glasgow. She incorporates film, printmaking, photography and poetry to construct installations in which she explores themes of dual heritage, migration and cultural dissonance. Beneath the Ivory is Molten Brown combines moving image installation and textile photo prints, crafting a narrative of the Lakshmi/Yakshi/Nymph, oscillating between South Asian ancestral memory and western assimilation. Drawing on resonances between South Asian and Greco-Roman mythic forms, Aqsa embodies the misnamed “Pompeii Lakshmi,” a first-century CE Indian ivory statuette discovered in 1938. Estranged from her origins as a yakshi and reshaped through translation and reclassification, her avatar becomes a site of composite identity, reflecting historical Roman practices in which imported deities and motifs were absorbed, adapted, and transformed within visual culture. Ayesha Jones (b. 1990) is a West Midlands–based artist working with photography and film. Her practice explores art as a catalyst for growth, healing, and social impact. The Backbone , explores idiopathic scoliosis as a lens to address female health more broadly. This int
Not the same tradition as the lineage above — a genuinely different thread to pull, if you want one.