Artist Of The Month: You threw me from my path and drove away by Georgia Wesley

Free Exhibition in the Cafe Bar until 13th June 

You threw me from my path and drove away - 2026

Cotton bedroom blind, Garden twine, Bicycle inner tubes, Turned and carved Poplar, Oak, Cherry, London plane. 

A series of sculptural works shaped by the altered conditions of living in the aftermath of injury.

Developed over the last three years, the work reflects on recovery as a prolonged condition in which movement, agency, independence, labour, and everyday routine become fundamentally reorganised.

Through suspended, turned, carved, and bound wooden forms, the installation considers what it means to exist in a state of flux: supported whilst simultaneously restricted, elevated whilst restrained. Timber forms are suspended within cotton and rubber sling-like structures that reference systems of support, containment, recovery, and assisted movement.

Recurring domestic objects including bowls, utensils, stools, and vessels point towards the repetitive structures that begin to define everyday life throughout recovery — nourishment, care, dependence, and routine. The timber used throughout the work was collected across East London during recovery through walking, limited movement, and repeated journeys through the surrounding area.

London plane sourced from a chance meeting with tree surgeons coppicing in Victoria Park. Cherry saved from the wood chipper of tree surgeons removing an old tree from a listed Huguenot townhouse on Fournier Street and kindly delivered to my front door.

Oak and poplar gathered from a wood pile in Haggerston Park from a tree surgeon’s drop-off supply close to the site of the collision.

The suspended works are held using reclaimed bicycle inner tubes from the bicycle involved in the collision, whilst fabric incorporated into the installation is taken from the blinds of my bedroom window. During recovery the blinds remained open not only because of physical incapability, but because of the psychological need to resist shutting the world out completely during a prolonged period of healing and isolation.

These materials carry direct connections to impact, vulnerability, resilience, endurance, and repair. 

Accessibility 

See our Accessibility Guide for full information about access in our venue including step-free access.  

Find out more about Georgia Wesley

For over two decades, my artistic practice has focused on the relationships between objects, memory, and narrative. I see objects not merely as materials, but as vessels of meaning deeply personal, historically layered, and powerful tools for storytelling.

Through acts of repositioning and reframing, I create spaces where empathy, reflection, and connection can emerge, inviting viewers to engage not just with my story, but with their own. Grounded in lived experience and shaped by themes of identity, trauma, and resistance, my work is a way of processing what often resists language.

I am drawn to materials that bear time’s imprint objects that speak through their scars, wear, and history. Meaning unfolds through encounter: in how objects are placed, how space is navigated, and how memory is triggered. Storytelling is central to my practice.

Alongside this, I have worked extensively in a technical, production and conservation capacity within major institutions including Tate, White Cube and the Royal households. In close collaboration with artists such as Theaster Gates, Michael Armitage, Ibrahim Mahama, Paul Dash, Oscar Murillo, Olafur Eliasson, Thomas Heatherwick, Mike Nelson, and Otobong Nkanga.

I’ve also installed and cared for works by historical and contemporary figures including Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Matisse, Donald Judd, Mark Rothko, Tracey Emin, Mona Hatoum, Anselm Kiefer, and Steve McQueen.

This dual perspective as both artist and technical collaborator has sharpened my sensitivity to material, space, and the transformative potential of careful, intentional making. It has deepened my understanding of the responsibility of care: for artworks, for stories, and for the people who encounter them. 

Instagram: @thenarrativeofobjects