Gallery 3 (upstairs)
Launch: Thursday 5 November / 6pm – 8pm / Open Eye Gallery
This exhibition focuses on the role that nature and creativity can play in healing from trauma, particularly in the context of male violence and abuse against women and girls. New photographic work by Jaskirt Dhaliwal-Boora will feature alongside works created by women from four refuges across the country, each working with a lead artist to inspire and encourage them.
Jaskirt says: “The fabric of trauma alters your landscape and perception of the world. Traumatic experiences shift and change you; you move through the world differently to the version of you before it. The beauty still exists, but sometimes it’s through a new lens.
The seismic actions of male violence can be fatal, for many of the women involved in this work it has caused significant, life changing disruption. There is no quick fix to heal from trauma, it takes years of work, but we must start somewhere.”
Katy Sadler has worked with Birmingham & Solihull Women’s Aid, Audrey Albert has worked with Chrysalis Centre, Liverpool, Lynn Weddle has worked with Safe in Sussex in Littlehampton and Lynda Laird has worked with Oasis in Gravesend and Dungeness.
Jo Matwiejczyk, a participant in the workshops in Littlehampton, stated:
“Using photography and abstract mediums to channel my trauma through, has opened a door to a voice in me that doesn’t usually get to speak. It’s a voice that hadn’t yet found the right language to reflect back the visceral, layered emotions that often live beyond words.
Throughout these workshops, I’ve come to recognise that my own fragmented thoughts and feelings need, and warmly welcome, abstract expression. It has allowed me to begin moving through my emotions, attaching meaning and purpose to them, and slowly threading my experiences into a more coherent and compassionate narrative.”
A book about the project accompanies the exhibition and will be available to buy in Open Eye Gallery’s independent bookshop. It focuses on the role that nature and creativity can play in healing from trauma, particularly in the context of male violence and abuse against women and girls. The book includes reflective writing from each lead artist of the national workshops, an introduction from Deborah Robinson (Head of exhibitions at The New Art Gallery Walsall), powerful statements and artwork from the participants and Refuge partners, as well as the new artworks and an extended reflection about the work by Jaskirt Dhaliwal-Boora. The book has been designed as a learning tool, sharing insights from the workshops, as well as artworks and poetry from participants involved, centring creativity and recovery from trauma.
The project has been supported by and Arts Council England Project Grant with further support from The New Art gallery Walsall, Open Eye Gallery, Photo Fringe and Peter Marlow Foundation.
Jaskirt Dhaliwal-Boora is an artist, activist and socially engaged practitioner, working with communities on global issues. Her work amplifies and celebrates underrepresented stories, while examining representations of gender, ethnicity and place. Most recently her practice-based research examines how nature and creativity can positively impact health and wellbeing.
In 2025 she was the recipient of the Royal Photographic Society’s Social Practice Award. Previous awards include winning the British Journal of Photography’s Portrait of Britain award for three consecutive years (2021-24), and the LensCulture Photo Art award (2024). Jaskirt is also the founder of Luna (formerly Women in Photo Birmingham) and a Senior Lecturer and practice based researcher at Birmingham City University.