PERMANENT COLLECTION
HANNAH LISTER ≈ NAT KOCHAN ≈ LULU BENNETT ≈ JAMIE HOLMAN
EMILY ALICE MITCHELL ≈ TONY PHILLIPS ≈ JOCELYN MCGREGOR
ELIZABETH CLOUGH ≈ DEBBIE YARE ≈ MIA ROBERTS ≈ ADAM RAWLINSON
Horse, Heysham Head, c-type handprint, 2020 Hannah Lister
Hannah Lister is a Morecambe-born, photo-based artist who works from her analogue darkroom, printing chance encounters in a process that is slow and contemplative. in this work, ‘Horse, Heysham Head’, which was taken from the ginnel leading from Knowlys Road to Heysham promenade, she uses 35mm film stock and works with perspective, light, colour and texture to present an image that is at once direct, ambiguous and romantic. the photograph was originally exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, alongside other works, including a piece taken in and entitled ‘Old Pier Bookshop’. through Jwllrs acquisition programme, her work has come full circle, hanging in a bookshop that she has frequented throughout her life.
installed at: The Old Pier Bookshop
Samantha Pepys Study, watercolour, 2025, Lulu Bennett
Lulu Bennett grew up in Lancaster, making paintings as part of a contemporary revival of the northern Gothic. in this watercolour, Bennett depicts Samantha Pepys, her drag persona, a trans-feminised version of 17th century diarist/politician Samuel Pepys. she also references Victorian Punch illustrations, another recurring element of her practice, offering a psychedelic, kaleidoscopic vision of British political life.
the original Pepys’ vivid observations of the Great Fire of London (1666) mirror the upheavals of the trans experience in 21st century Britain. Samantha Pepys is a vehicle for trans history painting, an idiosyncratic gender rebel, a time traveller who troubles and queers European art history. her confidence, wisdom and fiercely feminine sexuality situate Samantha in the history of British women’s self-portraiture.
temporarily installed at: BEACH
Fly Chicken, oil on canvas, 2022, Nat Kochan
Nat Kochan lived in Morecambe between 2021–2023. he moved from Paris, having never visited Morecambe, and began integrating with people from the area. he established A_C_, a window art gallery in the Arndale Centre where he exhibited local and national artists. he also had a studio in the Arndale Centre, where he made many paintings, and was visited by Tyson Fury. his paintings included portraits of the Arndale Centre security team; paintings of birds; a painting and multimedia project with Wolfwood’s doggy visitors; and several other works, including Fly Chicken, which is now installed in Wolfwood charity shop, where Nat frequented for inspiration. Fly Chicken is a fan-film-poster for the animated movie Chicken Run, which is often for sale in charity shops. this work has a double meaning, as Wolfwood is a small charity focusing on the rescue, rehabilitation and safe release of wildlife casualties
installed at: Wolfwood Charity shop
Sea Fruit, Victorian lead, hessian lined case, 2025, Jamie Holman
Jamie Holman is an artist living in Caton. his work considers ideas of labour, class and heritage with a focus on the North West of England. Sea Fruit is the third iteration of Lancashire Tides, Lancashire Skies, a series of memorial artworks commemorating the tragedy that took the lives of 23 Chinese workers, picking cockles on Morecambe Bay out on the notoriously dangerous shifting sands and tides under illegal and unsafe working conditions enforced by a gangmaster. a night in 2004 that led to the death of 23 people. the project features hand cast cockles in Victorian lead, with each casting representing a life lost. the collection of 23 casts has been permanently acquired by Manchester Art Gallery. Sea Fruit, the latest iteration, features a single cockle representing Dong Zin Wu,
who is still missing. Sea Fruit is installed at the Stone Jetty Cafe, where Lancashire Skies Lancashire Tides was initially hosted on March 14th 2018.
installed at: The Light House Cafe