Joshua Raffell Hampshire, United Kingdom

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Josh's work is strongly influenced by his lived experiences, coming from a working class canal gypsy background, living with dyslexia and depression and being a gay man. His work often looks at everyday life from a 'different' point of view and creates work that is dramatic, absurd and arresting. He is based on the Isle of Wight and exhibits across the south and London.

‘Raffell’s installations and performances are raw emotion, roughly hewn from the broken heart of non-conformity. Anxiety wends its way through the work like a determined rambler. Details of shame, hidden or cancelled thought, sit alongside absurd gesture, confidence and vibrant colour. Crafts and the cheeky alure of humour invite the periphery to hold hands and observe. The work experiments until the physical and emotional is shredded. The work is a metamorphosis, restarting its journey at the edges of existence.’