18 artists have created and displayed their artwork around the ‘Mother’ theme
The artistic landscape of the North is being reshaped by the Feminine Urge Collective, a group established in 2024 by artist and researcher Lucy Brooke. By amplifying the voices of women, non-binary, trans, and northern artists, as well as those living with disabilities, the collective has launched its third and most poignant exhibition to date.
Titled ‘Mother’, the showcase is currently open to the public at a pop-up gallery on Pier Street, just off Hull’s vibrant Humber Street, where it will remain until May 17. Following successful ventures at Our Big Picture in Grimsby and a collaborative project titled ‘Devour’ with the Freedom Festival Programme, this latest exhibition delves into the complexities of maternal roles.
The collective maintains a fierce northern identity, drawing talent primarily from the Hull and Grimsby areas linked by the Humber, while also incorporating contributors from Leeds, Bradford, and Nottingham. Through a diverse array of disciplines, the 18 featured artists explore what it means to mother and be mothered.
Among the contributors is Eve Wright, a new mother whose work focuses on the lives of working-class women; her piece for the exhibition is based on a traditional industrial weaving loom. She is joined by Paige Graham-Buckle, the artist behind the local brand ‘She Will Grow Out Of It’. Known for her use of vivid fabrics and mixed media, Graham-Buckle’s piece is about her inner battle about whether or not she would want to become a mother, as well as being a tribute to her mother.
Lucy Brooke has also contributed her own work to the curated space. Discussing her piece, she said: “My artwork is called ‘Baby Teeth’ – its a picture of myself with my childhood teddy bear. It’s a tapestry of different impactable things that I’ve had, things that had an impact on me growing up and who I’ve become as a person, thinking about how I relate to Mother as a theme.”
“Most Mothers grew us. We lived inside them. They fed us, loved us, before they even knew who we would become. We all have a mother and we don’t talk about them much. Mother is an ode to the silent parts of womanhood. A clean slate. An empty notebook to step inside and love, grieve, scream, cry, laugh.
“We cry for our mothers no matter our age, no matter our love for her or the current status of our relationship because she is the first home we ever knew. She was the beginning, middle and end and I hope this exhibition helps everyone who visits take ownership of their own story.”
Rachel Anderson, Producer of The Feminine Urge Collective, added: “We have a really good mix of artists, we have sculptures, painters, installations, photographers and a real bit of everything with some things you wouldn’t expect as well. I’m a textile artist and usually work with free motion machine embroidery which is one of the pieces in the exhibition. Recently I have learnt how to do lace and I wanted to incorporate that into the exhibition, so I’ve included traditional bobbin lace making which is an endangered craft now, at risk of dying out, so it’s really nice to learn something like that and hopefully continue it.”
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