Elly R Drew - Eight

2026 Open Exhibition: That's How The Light Gets In, Chapel Arts Studios

2026 Still Loading, MA Fine Art interim Show at Winchester School of Act, part of University of Southampton.

Eight

This piece began life as an experiment in 'rusting metal', over time it grew into a 'Wing', with work the weight of the piece became '8'kg, that is when I applied to CAS to take part in their show. At that point the piece was being worn or drapped over a manakin. For the MA Fine Art interim show I made it fly, designing a frame which Jacob kindly built. It took a week to sew it onto the frame, at this point it felt that it was 'Becoming' something else....

I had planned to include it in the show on a manakin, but I'm delighted CAS agreed to retain the frame. The space has the most wonderful chapel ceiling and I feel the wings complement it beatifully.

Thank you to Fiona Cassidy for this wonderful photo.

'Look for the crack, it’s how the light gets in'

Exploring vulnerability and imperfection as sites of transformation. The work considers how fractures, weaknesses, and moments of struggle can create openings for growth, understanding, and hope.

Emerging through a process of responding to the materials and allowing their qualities to guide the form. Traces of making, including contamination, irregularities and imperfections, have been deliberately preserved as evidence of their becoming. Rather than presenting an idealised symbol of flight, the wings, carry a sense of weight, resilience, and endurance.

Traditionally associated with freedom and transcendence, they reflect the body's capacity to adapt and persist. Their cracks, edges, and exposed structures are not signs of failure but spaces through which light can enter. The work suggests that transformation does not occur despite our vulnerabilities, but through them. In this way, becoming a reflection on repair, resilience, and the possibility of finding strength within imperfection.

https://www.chapelartsstudios.co.uk/

https://www.chapelartsstudios.co.uk/open-exhibition-2026

Despite & Becoming

Sharing space

aka Becoming

Suspended from the ceiling the piece moves gently in the breeze, the safety pins shimmer.

Studio photos

Taken prior to attaching the wings to a frame

Felt more like royal robes

Or a museum exhibit

From basic experiments with rusting safety pins in scraps of fabric. Initially recognizing the shapes of wings in these experiments. Noting the juxtaposition of decaying heavy metal and the lightness of wings, in particular bird wings.

Initially scrap safety pins were sourced and whilst I was given a large number it became apparent that I was going to need 18,000+ safety pins to make a full size set of wings that could be worn by an adult.

Experiments highlighted that the cheaper safety pins rusted more, but there was a high number of safety pins that were broken.

Some of the donated safety pins had specific purpose: Nappy pins carried echos of a different time, of labour, of love, and endurance. Experimenting with materials informed the work.

Despite

I cut up one of the canvases that I had been working on during the first part of my MA, making book wraps for sketchbooks. It seemed appropriate that everything I had been through and had been put into the canvas was turned into something more positive.