Cells and Love
curated by Paola Lucente
Hypha Gallery 1 / No. 1 Poultry, London EC2R 8EN
PV: Thursday, 6th November 2025, 6-9pm
Open: 7 November – 6 December 2025
Cells and Love gathers twelve artist-mothers whose practices explore the intersections of care, identity, and transformation. Core members Anna Frijstein, Farnaz Gholami, Or Lapid, Gal Leshem, and Michal Raz—RCA and Slade MFA graduates—work in collaboration with curator Paola Lucente and a wider collective of multidisciplinary artists.
The exhibition presents painting, performance, textile, sculpture, and installation that reflect on matrescence—the profound, often unseen transition into motherhood—as a way to reconsider creation itself. These works trace how artistic practice is shaped by caregiving, interruption, and renewal, offering perspectives that extend beyond parenthood to the wider human condition.
Presented in Gallery 1, the exhibition design offers space for both large-scale work and moments of rest and gathering, complemented by a public programme of readings, workshops, and conversations. Cells and Love invites all audiences into a shared reflection on care, creativity, and interdependence.
artists
Michal Raz
Anna Frijstein
Diane Chappalley
Emma Cousin
Farnaz Gholami
Fiona Chambers
Flora Bradwell
Gal Leshem
Hannah Morgan
Josephine Rock
Lindsey Mapes
Or Lapid
Sophie Goodchild
Michal Raz
Before the Beginning, Acrylic and pumice on raw canvas, 55 x 50 cm
Anna Frijstein
Mama’s Mayhem, Mixed media
Diane Chappalley
Rebirth, Oil on linen, 90 x 110 cm
Emma Cousin
Voids, Coloured pencil and pen on paper, 37 x 29.5 cm
Farnaz Gholami
Purple Room, Mixed media on Canvas, 120 x 150 cm
Fiona Chambers
Rupture, Yarn, burlap, latex, 75 x 75 x 3 cm
Flora Bradwell
Dinner, acrylic on soft sculptuer
Gal Leshem
Skin (detail), Quilted hand dyed textile and sound installation
Hannah Morgan
Animula, Alabaster, marble, steel, pewter
Josephine Rock
In the Body House, 8mm film – digital scan
Lindsey Mapes
All stitched up (My secret language), 24 × 30 cm
Or Lapid
Self Portrait in the Bath, Oil on cardboard, 41 x 31 cm
Sophie Goodchild
Born Eaten, Wet and needle felted wool, 196 x 138 cm
contact information
Socials: @lucente_paola
