Creative Encounters: Carve Out Your Space

This relaxed and informal drop-in session plays with paper collage on a large scale to reclaim space, inspired by the current Hayward Gallery exhibition Mickalene Thomas: All About Love, featuring large-scale portraits.

To open the event, Yemi Yohannes and Kristal Sisodia read us some original poetry. Then, taking silhouette as inspiration, you are invited to carve out bold, colourful portraits of yourself and others, working with people around you for an evening of expressive collaging and conversation.

The workshop is accompanied by the National Poetry Library, who serve up an array of poetry on paper to accompany your collage.

Beth Suzanna is a mixed-race London-based illustrator whose uplifting work is rooted in colour and connection.

Creating work for picture books, programmes, covers and campaigns, her work has a strong focus on community and diversity, using bold figurative paper-cut shapes or expressive pastel lines to create tactile, playful and human work.

Kristal Sisodia is a channeller of stories. They are a neurodivergent, gender-fluid actor, writer, poet and musician of Bajan and Indian heritage. They recently returned to live performance in the summer of 2024, after a 12-year hiatus due to several unexplained chronic illnesses. Now, correctly diagnosed they’re back to performing with new insight, and a rare dynamic energy that simply can’t be contained.

Yemi Yohannes is a London-based creative artist, actress and writer who fuses poetry with diverse music genres, aiming to make spoken word more accessible within the mainstream. She has performed at BBC Radio London, The Photographer’s Gallery, Sofar Sounds and COP26. She is currently working with Bush Theatre as part of their young company and is the founder of THEGDNEWSCHANNEL, an events and production company that champions vulnerability.