This exhibition features the work of three artists: Esyllt Angharad Lewis, Lorraine Hamilton, and Joanne Pemberton. Through sculpture, print, video, text, and sound, they explore the fluid, responsive nature of memory and the boundaries that define it. This exhibition begins with research into the jellyfish, a creature capable of reversing its life cycle. Certain species can revert from their adult medusa form back to the juvenile polyp stage in response to stress or lack of resources. In this transformation, the jellyfish retains no physiological trace or memory of its former adult state. The works presented invite reflection on how we recall our past, and how we relate to different versions of ourselves at different times and whether our growing dependence on digital records alters or even erodes our relationship with memory.

The title is taken from a Louise Bourgeois Lithography print from her embroidered book Ode to the forgotten: https://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2013/02/18/louise-bourgeois-a-flashback-of-something-that-never-existed/

Other references for this project:

Hidden Brain Are you memories real podcast: https://www.hiddenbrain.org/podcast/are-your-memories-real/

Ologies Medusology podcast: https://www.alieward.com/ologies/medusology

Jellfish Polyop vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcQs3dkrH0A

Jellyfish learning: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/sep/22/jellyfish-learning-behaviour-neurons-study