We are delighted to welcome you to the first show in our brand new Mill 2 Gallery!
Holding The Shadow While Calling Back The Light: A solo, touring exhibition by Benjamin Sebastian
Preview Event: Friday 11 April, 6-9PM - all welcome, just turn up!
Runs: 12 April - 10 May - please book ahead on evenbrite for Thursdays, Fridays + Saturdays 11-4
Artist Talk: 19 April (As part of our Open Studios programme)
Benjamin Sebastian (b. 1980, Cairns, Australia. Lives and works in London, UK) brings their new show to Mill 2 Gallery, after touring in Canterbury (Herbert Read Gallery), Kent (CT20) and London (VSSL Studio). This show is their largest solo presentation in the UK to date, and we are thrilled to be the first to present the work up North.
In 2024, Benjamin underwent a three-week residency here at 1853 Studios, which marked the early stages of this exhibition's development. Their residency in Oldham was central to exploring the exhibition's themes, directly connecting to their father's journey from Oldham to Australia after the Second World War through the 'Ten Pound Pom' scheme. During the residency, they explored their Oldham heritage for the first time, creating site responsive works in our historic cotton mill. This residency built upon a previous residency undertaken in Australia, which linked these two parts of the artist’s heritage. The collection of works in this exhibition are the product of Benjamin’s exploration of heritage, (de)colonialism and identity.
“I’m so excited to bring this work back to Oldham, a place deeply woven into both my family’s story and the narrative of this exhibition. Working with cotton and calico — materials that carry the weight of Oldham’s cotton mills and the wider colonial systems they fed — has felt like holding history in my hands. The speculative, patchwork, and assemblage qualities of these textiles echo other aspects of my practice, which explore queerness and neurodiversity. I hope the work resonates with people on an emotional level, and I look forward to the conversations that will emerge.”
“This predominantly new body of work by Benjamin Sebastian confronts their ancestral implication in violent structures of settler-colonialism, while holding space for a spiritually expansive understanding of our relationship to the world around us and the forces that shape it through multiple forms of coloniality. This exhibition reveals a visual language of stitch, pattern, symbolism and hybridity, developed to unravel complex personal and political histories...” - Jane Scarth
About Benjamin:
Benjamin Sebastian (1980 AUS/UK) is a trans-disciplinary visual artist and curator living in London (UK). Their work spans performance, sculpture, curation, video, text, installation, drawing & new media - rooted in processes of bricolage, assemblage, collage, ritual & DIY cultural production. Through harmonizing nonbinary perspectives, neurodivergent cognition and decolonial practice, Sebastian weaves nascent narratives into existence, offering alternative ways of remembering, being here-and-now, and charting pathways to futures yet formed. Find out more about their work -benjamin-sebastian.com
Access info:
Mill 2 Gallery has step free access. There is access via a ramp, and lift to the 3rd floor. There is an accessible toilet on this floor.
Location:
Mill 2 Gallery
1853 Studios
Osborne Mill
Waddington St
OL9 6QQ
The entrance to Mill 2 is through the carpark (entrance on Waddington St)
Look out for this sign, located by the ramp. Enter through the door at the top of the ramp.
Getting here:
Our nearest tram stop is Westwood, which is a 15 minute walk from the studios. Westwood is on the Oldham and Rochdale lines.
There is a carpark onsite (entrance on Waddington St), and additional street parking around the mill.
If you would like any additional information, please contact Luca - luca@1853studios.co.uk