Featuring work by Eilish Briscoe and curated by Victoria Fox, Expression Is A Luxury is a new exhibition at K-House Gallery.
“Eilish is an artist and designer based in London whose practice looks at human resistance and resilience. After suffering from a Basilar Thrombotic Stroke, in 2020 at age 25, they have used their experiences to create art that encompasses parts of their recovery. From cognitive function to relearning how to write, their work looks at the core components that we use for communication. They explain how, ‘in speech and on paper everything was a compromise; weighing up what I really wanted to say versus how much energy I was willing to expend to make myself understood’. A compromise that showed Eilish that expression was a luxury.
“The emotions from this idea- the fear, strength, devastation, hope, contemplation, and frustration are shown in their work, along with the continuing themes of time and energy, evoking how precious these elements are when we do or do not have them. Their zines, for example, replicate and emphasise the concepts of human energy limits and time consumption, while their stencils of their post-stroke handwriting speak of limited autonomy, encompassing you in a devastatingly beautiful reflection on the human experience of having to start again in life through no choice of your own.”