‘My heart is in here’
‘Give me your beautiful, crumbling heart’ – Kae Tempest
This show is a collection of precious wearable objects – as precious as all the feelings we have in a day, an hour, a moment. These are sculptures that you can put on, wear close to your body as protection in softness, or a thousand stitches holding together the many pieces of us like an armour of acceptance. Some of them are small like a talisman. Others are larger, with silk velvet cushions that nestle into your chest or rib cage. You can hang them on the wall when you need a reminder that there are ways to protect ourselves at the same time as showing others how we feel, without needing to use words. Or you can wear them - they want to go with you. Some of them have parts that stick out - I don't always want a hug, maybe you have those times too? These works exist to say it's ok, we can, and do, feel all of these things.
Also exhibiting a series of drawings made over the last couple of years of exploring how feelings look when they are embodied through movement and put on paper. Expressive mark making in charcoal, pastel and graphite making visible how we hold our breath, release, move and get stuck in our beautiful bodies as we process living in these times.
These works have been made in the studio in response to the last two years of offering‘How is your Heart?’, an ongoing participatory public art project. Participants are offered a creative alternative to spoken explanation in expressive wearable sculptures and drawings that stand in for words, expressing complexity, beauty, hope and fear. By offering a range of sculptural forms to try on, artist readings, and a creative workshop, the invitation is to express the internal externally without judgement, moving towards empathy for ourselves and others. ‘How is your Heart?’ has been commissioned by The Performance Arcade, Repair Café, and the Public Art Fund Wellington for Waitohi, Johnsonville Library. In 2026 / 27 it will be touring to ObjectSpace in Tāmaki Makaurau, and Ōtepoti. Siân has also been commissioned by Te Matatiki in Ōtautahi to develop an LGBTTQI+ public art project in 2027.
Siân Quennell Torrington (them/them, she/her, Pākeha, Tangata Tiriti, Welsh, German, Scottish) explores how to express feelings through drawings and sculptures, embodying a visual anti-shame practice that can simultaneously protect and connect us. She works with interconnectivity, relationships and the possibilities of alternative structures through materials and practices.
Holding space and sharing creative processes is part of their practice, enabling conversation, connection, and collective imagination. They developed and regularly run Queer and trans drawing class, and have run many public workshops addressing social change and wellness through collective creativity. Siân holds an MFA with distinction from Massey University, 2010, and a diploma in Fashion and Textiles from NMIT, 2001. They have had numerous solo and groups shows, and work from a studio in Naenae, New Zealand. Their work has been commissioned by Te Matatiki, The Dowse Art Museum, The Performance Arcade, City Gallery Wellington, Christchurch Art Gallery, and the Public Art Fund, Wellington. They have been awarded artist residencies in Samoa at Tiapapata Arts Centre, Shanthi Rd, India through the Asia New Zealand Foundation, and The Crucible, Ōamaru.
siantorrington@gmail.com www.allmeaningisthelineyoudraw.wordpress.com
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