In Her Words: Women Artists and Life Writing Symposium

Cambridge University

June 12

Murray Edwards College

The symposium will accompany the Relative Ties exhibition that will explore the work of three generations of women artists from the illustrious Nicholson family, from the early twentieth century to today. Featuring paintings, wallpaper, fabrics, rugs, stencils and works on paper – many of which have never been on public display – the exhibition will unite works by Mabel Nicholson, Nancy Nicholson, EQ Nicholson and Louisa Creed. Tracing the influence between these women, the exhibition will reveal how creative legacies are inherited through matrilineal lines and will be accompanied by a new commission by artist Katie Schwab. Piecing together the entangled relationships of these women has been made possible via letters, exhibition ephemera and anecdotes passed down by the surviving generations. The exhibition provides the perfect backdrop to a symposium that looks at the remnants, traces and archives that document and outlive these women artists.