I am a visual artist, producer, and curator. The core of my practice is participatory, bringing people together and inviting them to get involved whether that is building or becoming the artwork. I respond to my surroundings by highlighting societal inequalities encouraging a questioning of perceived truths, to offer up alternatives in dialogue with others.
I am passionate about supporting my local creative economy and deliver workshops and training to emerging artist on how to build sustainable arts worlds, self-organise and create supportive artist networks.
Currently I am working for Create Arts as a North West Project Manager delivering workshops in
challenging community settings, such as psychiatric hospitals,
prisons and SEND schools, which engages with those that don’t normally
get the chance to be creative.
In 2023 I was producer on The Gift one of the 12 signature projects for Leeds 2023 Year of Culture. This project commissioned Keith Khan to create 33 distinct designs for each ward of Leeds which Burberry wove into jacquard fabric at their Keighley mill. The project fostered a sense of pride in local heritage and strengthened community
connections, through a touring portrait booth and exhibition showcasing the unique garments created in a collaboration between local makers and students at Leeds Arts University.
In 2020 I was selected for Into the Wild, an artist development programme at Chisenhale Art Place, and am now an Associate Artists of Chisenhale Studios. There I co-founded MESH, a wiki site for artists to build supportive networks and share resources online. We also ran virtual hackathons to share and add content with other groups across the UK i.e. The Anti-University & NewBridge Project.
From 2017-18 I was The Whitworth Young Contemporaries’ Emerging Artist. A funded residency which supported me to develop a practice in interactive art, audience participation, youth work and community engagement. There I co-produced After Twilight, asking ‘if the world was a fair place, then…?’ an interactive installation that invited the public to step inside to record their answer and create a time-capsule, now archived at The Whitworth, to be opened in 2028.
In 2017 I was also awarded The Manchester School of Art Degree-Show Prize by Sarah Perks (HOME). For my immersive installation The Jungle; a reflection on volunteering at refugee camps in Calais. I then developed the work further into Crossing Borders a large-scale outdoor installation and engagement programme on The Whitworth terrace, for Journeys Festival 2018. It has subsequently been exhibited for Here</>There at Today Art Museum, Beijing 2019.
Education
2014-2017 | First Class Honours Degree | Fine Art & Art History | Manchester School of Art
2016 | Erasmus program | Fine Art | Universitat de Barcelona
2020 - 2021 | Into The Wild artist development programme | Chisenhale Arts Place | lifetime Associate Artists of Chisenhale Studios
Awards
The Manchester School of Art Degree Show Award for Fine Art & Art History | Selected by Sarah Perks: Artistic Director of Visual Art | HOME, Manchester
Selected by Artist Helen McGhie for the a.n artist info degree show takeover 2017. “Matilda Glen's The Jungle' is a very relevant installation that encourages the audience to negotiate this liminal space, whilst questioning social ethics and temporality.”
Productions and Projects
2024 Freelance Project Manager | Create Arts | North West (GB)
2023 The Gift: A City without Seams | Producer | Leeds 2023 | Leeds (GB)
2023 LEEDS 2023 Year of Culture | Producing Administrator | Leeds (GB)
2022 First Breath | Engagement Coordinator | Factory International | Greater Manchester (GB)
2022 Manchester Day 2022 | Production Assistant | Walk The Plank | Manchester (GB)
2022 Researcher | Report into Early Years provisions in GM | Manchester International Festival | Greater Manchester (GB)
2021 The Walk with Amal | Production and Outreach Assistant | Good Chance Theatre | Across England (GB)
2021 Sea Change | Engagement Assistant | Manchester International Festival | Manchester (GB)
Artist Projects
2021 EXHIBITION Jungle | KATMAPPED | Curated by James Stewart and Kate Trafeli (Online)
MESH co-founder | a wiki site by and for emerging artists with support from Chisenhale Art Place | UK (Online)
2021 Wild Letter Launch | Into the Wild | Chisenhale Art Place | London (Online)
2020 WORKSHOP MESH Hackathon | Title: “In Collaboration: Access” with Abel Shah for the NewBridge Project | Newcastle (Online)
2020 WORKSHOP MESH Hackathon for Antiuniveristy | London (Online)
2020 PODCAST | Ode to an Object #3 “Teapots” | Resonance 104.4 FM | Curated by Phoebe McIndoe and Emily Naylor | London (Radio)
2020 ARTIST TALK | Art Watch | Riverside Radio | interviewed by Pheobe McIndoe | London (Radio)
2019 EXHIBITION Here</>There | Today Art Museum | Curated by Adrian Shaughnessy | Beijing (CA)
2018 TALK | Between There and Here: art, humanitarian disaster & personal trauma | The Whitworth | Sofia Kalu, Simon Falkner and Mei Yuk Wong | Manchester (GB)
2018 EXHIBITION Crossing Borders | The Whitworth | For Journeys Festival International | Manchester (GB)
2018 EXHIBITION At What Cost? | AIR Gallery | Curated by Becky Wild | Altrincham (GB)
2018 EXHIBITION On The Cusp Of | The Take Courage Gallery | Curated by Rayvenn D Clark and Ella Dabysing | London (GB)
2018 WORKSHOP facilitator with Lubna Ali | Kashmir Youth Project | British Council Heritage Project | Rochdale (GB)
2018 EXHIBITION WYC Presents: After Twilight | The Whitworth | Curated by Lubna Ali and Matilda Glen | Manchester (GB)
2018 EXHIBITION Limbo | The Crypt Gallery | Curated by Jazmin Luna | London (GB)
2017 PERFORMANCE Be//Longing | Hope Mill Theatre | Produced by Take Back Theatre | Manchester (GB)
Residencies
2020 Into the Wild artist development program | Chisenhale Art Place | London (GB)
2019 a.n and Castelfeild Gallery Denmark Delegation | Copenhagen and Aarhus (DK)
2017 - 2018 The Whitworth Young Creatives Emerging Artist | The Whitiworth | Manchester (GB)
2017 Limits, Frontiers, Borders | Confluence Institute for Innovation and Creative Strategies in Architecture | Lyon (FR)
Bursaries
2020 a-n Artist Development Bursary | a-n The Artist Information Company | This Bursary includes a mentorship schema with artist and co-creator of Paradise Works Hilary Jack.
Publications
2021 Wild Letter | a collaboration with Into The Wild & Chisenhale Art Place | Edited by Esther McManus
Press
2020 Riverside Radio | Art Watch | Phoebe McIndoe
2019 Beijing exploring exhibition Today Art Museum · Global Cutting-edge Design Achievement Exhibition,
2019 Very Beijing, 100+ works of overseas artists will unveil the future of art with you today!
2019 Beijing New Exhibition Recommendation | Here </> There is the future of art
2018 The Mancunion, After Twilight: A Youth Takeover of the Whitworth, Bella Jewell
2017 a-n degree show takeover | Helen McGhie. “Matilda Glen's The Jungle' is a very relevant installation that encourages the audience to negotiate this liminal space, whilst questioning social ethics and temporality.” | a-n The Artist Information Company Instagram