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“We’re delighted to be working with RHS Bridgewater, which is such a beautiful asset right on our doorstep. I’ve been aware of Yan’s amazing work and her focus on the natural world for some time, and have been waiting for the right opportunity to work with her – we’re very excited.”

~Lindsay Taylor, Curator of the University’s Art Collection

Discover more about the Artist in Residence programme from award-winning artist and photographer Dr Yan Wang Preston and Lindsay Taylor, Curator of the University of Salford Art Collection.

About the Programme

The focus of the Artist in Residence programme at RHS Bridgewater will develop organically, initially exploring the former historic site of Worsley New Hall. This area of the garden, which at present is largely inaccessible to visitors, is key to the story of the garden. A cosmopolitan wilderness shaped by its geology, industrial past and horticultural redevelopment – themes that connect RHS Bridgewater to a global history and diverse cultures. The residency offers a window into this wilderness and a chance to explore the horticultural and heritage stories it holds.

Working in partnership with the University of Salford Art Collection, the first stage of the residency is a research and development period from September 2024 to January 2025. From March 2025 there will be a full development period, including a series of public workshops and a pop up display at RHS Bridgewater. In spring and summer 2026, the new work created by Artist in Residence Dr Yan Wang Preston will be presented outdoors in the garden, before an exhibition in autumn at Salford Museum and Art Gallery concludes the residency.

The Artist in Residence project with RHS Bridgewater helps the University deliver on some of its core ambitions, which are to enable healthier living, to nurture creativity and innovation, and to improve sustainability. It will also ensure that the Art Collection team continues to serve the University’s students, staff and wider communities – now and in the future.

Meet the Artist

Dr Yan Wang Preston is a multi-award-winning visual artist and photographer who is passionate about the natural world and our positions within it.

She has completed many challenging projects, including photographing the entire 6,211km Yangtze River in China at 100m intervals for Mother River (2010–2014), and walking to and photographing the same heart-shaped rhododendron bush on the South Pennine Moors every other day over an entire year for With Love. From an Invader. (2020–2021).

“I’m delighted to have this opportunity to work with RHS Bridgewater. Plants and flowers enrich our lives with so much beauty and vitality. Like people, they come from long journeys that are full of moving stories.”

~Dr Yan Wang Preston, Artist in Residence

Yan’s work has won many prestigious awards, including the Royal Photographic Society’s inaugural Photographer of Environmental Responsibility in 2023 and first prize in the Professional Landscape competition at the Sony World Photography Awards in 2019.

Her work is shown in numerous exhibitions, such as the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery in 2024, With Love. From an Invader. at the Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh in 2022 and Mother River in the 2015 UK-China Year of Cultural Exchange in China.

Yan has published two books: Mother River, and Forest, both with Hatje Cantz in 2018. Her work is collected by leading public institutions, such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Wuhan Art Museum in China.

Based in West Yorkshire, Yan is a passionate gardener. Her favourite plants are peonies, rhododendrons and water lilies. Besides her artistic career, she also lectures in photography at the University of Huddersfield.

“For the research stage of this residency, I would like to prepare the ground first – to gain an understanding of the journey of RHS Bridgewater, and to try to grasp why the plants mean so much to us from personal, collective and artistic angles.”

~Dr Yan Wang Preston

Join the curators from the University of Salford Art Collection for an informal lunchtime tour of current exhibition: Catalyst.

The exhibition features work from 16 University alumni, across painting, printmaking, photography, video, sculpture and more.

Covering a range of topics, their works exemplify the exciting and urgent emerging practices happening in the North West right now. From personal identity, LGBTQ+ visibility, wellbeing and politics; thoughts on place, landscape and nature; to passionate enquiries into form, shape, colour and the nature of image-making, the artworks reflect some of the many issues of the past decade.

Find out more about the works on display; the University’s art collection; and our graduate artist support scheme, now in its tenth year.

Open to public, students and staff. Tour runs 1pm for approximately 20mins, with time for questions.

Recently, the Hybrid Futures: Hypersea event premiered at Salford Museum & Art Gallery as part of Fat Out Fest, our team assistant Sam gives his thoughts:

The Hybrid Futures event was exciting from start to finish – welcoming public audiences from a variety of backgrounds to experience this contemporary exhibit of sound.

This was born out of a 10 day residency for Hypersea to respond to Shezad Dawood’s ‘Leviathan: From the Forest to the Sea‘ supported by Samarbeta Music Residency, IKLECTIK ART LAB , and the University of Salford Art Collection.

Starting with I Am Fya – an eclectic mix of vocals, digital sound, and sporadic imagery progressing through the performance. A spontaneous vocal reaction to candid configuration of music and sound, accompanied by collaged video. Each individual piece both reacted to and stimulated each other, pushing the piece to develop into a unique response to the moment. Some danced, some stood, some sat and embraced the mix of sensory stimulation as the performance existed in uncertainty and unfolded into something irreplicable.

Hypersea‘s response to Shezad Dawood’s ‘Leviathan: From the Forest to the Sea‘ was an encompassing mix of existentialism and possible outcomes for our futures. The sound was engaging, relaxing, and overall allowed the public to experience it how they wanted – the more lively of people danced, those who wanted to experience the sound (and sound only) sat down, closed their eyes, a couple even lay flat on their back to fully immerse themselves in the soundscape. For those with their eyes open, the lighting only added to the immersion of Hypersea’s performance – although lacking any change throughout the performance, the red light cast around the room kept the audience engaged and attentive. The soundtrack that Hypersea was constructed from sonified ocean data and used motion to control the composition – which I found extremely interesting, it gave the performance a real sense of weight and gravitas to know what was being presented.

A fitting closing celebration of the 3 year Hybrid Futures project, championing partnership working and collaboration across the North West.

Donely is a fibre artist specialising in rug-tufting using vegan materials. Wavy Lady is a hand-tufted rug inspired by a stewarding fellowship Donely undertook in 2019 at the 58th Venice Biennale, through the British Council. The work depicts a woman, hanging upside down, in the foetal position, tufted in various shades of blue. She represents vulnerability and the emotional experience of ‘falling in love with unfamiliar places; with atmospheres, with experiences, with strangers… the fleeting nature of these floating away in the water as quickly as they appeared’.

“Alena Donely’s practice has gone from strength to strength since graduating and completing her Salford Scholarship. The transition from university to being independent can be very challenging, with many adjustments including sourcing access to space and equipment. Through Alena’s own resourcefulness and dedication she has her built up her fully equipped workshop from where she can work on an ambitious scale and welcome people from all over the country and from overseas for her workshops and sharing of skills and experience.

The combination of the physicality of the heavy pneumatic tufting gun and the soft and colourful work it produces is not lost on Donely or the experience of her work. The tactile balance of the cold and the soft speaks of the expression of conflicting emotions. The roots of Donely’s practice flow from a personal place, drawing from her own mental health and telling her own story, whilst sharing works and a practice that is ever-accessible for others to engage and be inspired to both read and share their own experiences.

Donely’s welcoming and generous spirit of sharing has not stopped at the doors of her own studio –  since taking on her own space at Islington Mill she has been an engaged member of the community, extending to her active involvement in the long-term security and future of the studios for others to come.”

~Rachel Goodyear, Co-director at Islington Mill

Wavy Lady, 2020
Hand-tufted rug in acrylic and linen yarn
Alena Ruth Donely (2018/19)

The work reflects contrasting notions of ‘holding on’ and ‘letting’ go as a constant presence in the artists life, in a practice that draws on modern existentialism, experience of mental illness, trauma, and self-soothing – as well as being ‘unapologetically technicolour, playful and emotive’. She describes the object of the rug as an ‘island of play’ as a child – a place of storytelling, emotional connection and a comforting nostalgia.

Donely has exhibited work in group shows at Castlefield Gallery, Salford Museum and Art Gallery, HOME, and The Whitworth. She has also collaborated with Salford Lads and Girls Club, and made new work for the reopening of Rochdale Town Hall. Still based at Islington Mill, Alena now runs the Manchester Tufting Workshop, delivering commissions, workshops, courses and private tuition; as well as running collaborative sessions with the public at events including The Manchester Contemporary, 2023 and We Invented the Weekend, 2024.

Join us on the 9th of October 2024 to celebrate our newest exhibition CATALYST – featuring 16 artists from across the North West.

Artists include: Suraj Adekola, Katie Aird, Lubna Ali, Mollie Balshaw, Joe Beedles, Heather Bell, Alena Ruth Donely, Aidan Doyle, Elliott Flanagan, Joe Fowler, Jesse Glazzard, Jack Jameson, Lizzie King, Adam Rawlinson, Joshua Turner, and Meg Woods.

CATALYST install shot
Image: Courtesy of Jules Lister

Also showing:
The evening is a double celebration with MA Degree Show Present/Continuous launching at the same time in the New Adelphi Atrium. See new work from across the MA Pathways (Socially Engaged Art, Socially Engaged Photography, Contemporary Fine Art, Visual Communication) as well as MA Animation, MSc Games and Extended Reality and MA Fashion Business and Marketing.

Launch night:
Wednesday 9th October, 4.30 – 7.00pm
Speeches at 5.30pm. Refreshments served. All welcome.

Exhibition continues:
to 10th January 2025, 10am to 4pm weekdays, except for bank holidays and Christmas closures.

Aird is a photographer and art director based in Manchester, working across fine art, photography, and commercial and editorial work. Her work has been featured by the United Nations, Redeye: The Photography Network, and Lomography. She recently published two zines: Only Fans and Lost and Styled. This work also featured at the University of Salford Art Collection booth at The Manchester Contemporary 2023.

Entropy, 2021
Photographic Print
Katie Aird (2021/22)

Aird utilises 35mm photography and experimental techniques to explore cycles of life, death, and infinite energy. Her work is inspired by the concept of ‘entropy’ from thermodynamics – which concerns energy, order and disorder – and how it relates to human psychology. Original images of flowers – which symbolise the cycles of nature and regeneration that are part of everyday life – are distorted through a process of ‘scanography’ – using a flatbed scanner as a camera to manipulate light and form in unexpected ways.

Adekola was born in 1983. He is a Nigerian artist currently living in Manchester. His work is informed by post-colonial narratives, through painting, installation, and drawing, he uses elements of contemporary and historical material to explore themes of migration, globalisation, identity politics, equality, diversity, and inclusivity. He has exhibited work internationally including in London and Nigeria.

“It was a real joy to spend time with Suraj during his time on the Scholars programme. Perhaps more importantly it was great to see his work and thinking develop. His recent series of works The Treasure (2024) made with Adire (tie-dye) fabric, spray paints, and oil sticks on canvas retain the attitude of the first works that I saw by him but they also display an evolving sense of confidence in the way he is working with his mix mediums. I look forward to seeing him continue to be as ambitious with his work in the future, as I’m sure he will be.“

~Matthew Pendergast, Curator at Castlefield Gallery

We Should All Be Blacks 6, 2022
Mixed Media
Suraj Adekola (2022/23)

This work is part of a series titled We Should All Be Blacks, which Adekola began during his 2022 MA studies. The artist uses the traditional ‘Adire’ fabric as the foundation of the work – a popular indigenous tie-dyed fabric made in his hometown of Egbaland, Abeokuta (the ‘capital of Adire-making’ in Nigeria). The artist deconstructs, fragments, weaves and stitches the material together, creating vibrant forms and patterns inspired by Cubism. On the surface he uses spray paint, oil stick, and bleach to draw figurative and abstract motifs. This stitching together of fragmented forms and varied mediums symbolises a deep-seated desire for belonging and inclusion, ‘mirroring the Black experience – a tapestry woven from diverse threads’. The work and material are imbued with personal narrative, memories, cultural references, and celebrates art as a way to share Black histories.

Friday 27th September 2024
6 – 8 pm 
esea contemporary 
Free to attend | Booking recommended

Our partners at esea contemporary are holding an exhibition preview for Steph Huang’s There is nothing old under the sun, featuring a new co-commission with the University of Salford Art Collection.

In this new exhibition, Huang continues her investigation into mass production and commerce, the transcultural and historical dimensions of the food industry, and the implications of such markets on our natural environment. Using a variety of manual techniques, Huang transforms everyday spaces and objects, resulting in minimalist sculptures and poetically charged installations of quiet resonance.

The exhibition is generously supported by MTSA and Arts Council England. Exhibition catalogue supported by the Henry Moore Foundation. Co-commission supported by the University of Salford Art Collection.

Friday 20th September 2024
7-10pm
Salford Museum & Art Gallery

The Hybrid Futures exhibition closes on the 22nd September 2024, marking the end of the three year project. To celebrate we’ve teamed up with Fat Out Fest 2024 on a new artist residency.

Fat Out have been producing shows in Salford and Manchester since 2008, and Fat Out Fest 2024 will open with a special, brand new music commission in response to our Hybrid Futures exhibition.

Hypersea will explore fluidity, interconnectivity and notions of collectively as inspired by Shezad Dawood’s artwork Leviathan: From the Forest to the Sea. Set in the context of our Hybrid Futures exhibition space, this performance will debut on the night after being developed during a week-long Samarbeta Residency, in collaboration with London-based blenders of experimental sound, art and tech, IKLECTIK.

In Partnership with Samarbeta, University of Salford Art Collection, and IKLECTIK

In-conversation event
Friday 14th September 2024
2 – 3:30 pm
Castlefield Gallery
Ticketed event | limited free tickets available

An in-conversation event between both writers, and artists Jeffrey Knopf and Theo Simpson will be deep diving into the current exhibition on the 14th September, 2-3:30pm at Castlefield Gallery.

Clare O’Dowd (Research Curator at the Henry Moore Institute) and Duncan Woolridge (Writer and Curator, and Reader in Photography at SODA, MMU) have produced texts in response to both Jeffrey Knopf and Theo Simpson’s works; commissioned by the University of Salford Art Collection and Castlefield Gallery for the 40 Years of the Future: Where Should We Be Now? exhibition.

Read them below:

Jeffrey Knopf, The Closest I Got to Freud’s Desk, 2024 – Essay by Clare O’Dowd

Theo Simpson – Essay by Duncan Woolridge