The Lockdown Collection: Tropical Dreams

Take the tour! Immerse yourself. Virtually.

The Collection

Mattie is an artist, who also has sight loss. Her eyesight is very much a topic in the paintings themselves, the blur of the flowers, the need of the viewer to squint at a painting to see it clearer. But overall, The Lockdown Collection: Tropical Dreams ties together Mattie's experience over the past 6 months. From having to do an emergency exit retreat from Barcelona due to further eye trouble, to moving into an actually very surprisingly welcoming but lockdown Manchester. No wonder then the collection exemplifies mixed emotions.

The pieces represent the strange moment in time we all are living, with dreams of more beautiful things and freedom. The tone? A playful but somewhat tropical melancholy. The paintings are mostly abstract pieces, filled with energy and emotion.

The collection is the fruit of her creative labours from a 3 month art residency at Pop Up Ancoats. In this new collection Mattie plays with shapes, colours and elements inspired from nature, think tropical plants, flowers, and intertwining these with very distinct and iconic Manchester symbols, like, of course, the worker bee.

But, this is not just a collection, it is a project. A project which Mattie couldn't have done alone. A project with the intention to be something bigger than just an online art exhibition. It is a project to unite and also to give back. 

Giving Back

How? 15% of the funds raised from every painting and fundraising auction 100% of the funds from the Flowers painting will be donated to Henshaws, an amazing local Northern charity which supports people living with sight loss and a range of other disabilities. Their goal? For those with a disability to live an independent and fulfilling life.

Why Henshaws? Henshaws personally supported Mattie in her sight loss journey, reaching out through the NHS at the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital when Mattie arrived back in October. 

After being supported by Henshaws, for the first time ever, Mattie became accepting with her sight loss and even positive about the future. Before, the dread of becoming sight impaired felt like the end, as it felt like it was not just the loss of seeing but also the loss of independence. But with Henshaws Mattie realised, actually, despite what ever happens with my sight it will not be the loss of "being me". 

Henshaws offers a range of services from counselling, advice, training, to organising fun events such as virtual tours of Manchester Art Gallery. "It has also helped connecting me to others with sight loss and gain confidence in myself. Now I feel like if I am struggling I can pick up the phone and chat to people who understand me, with no judgment." Mattie explains. 

Through this collection you can also be involved in supporting the creative sector as well as aiding Henshaws.

The project comes to exemplify in itself how Manchester is so community driven, with people from different backgrounds and industries coming together to make something special. The community coming together, to give back to the community, what a beautiful concept!  

Art for the people

Another aspect of this collection was to get art to the people. Lockdown has hit the creative sector hard. With no galleries, museums or any type of creative spaces open to the public for months and months, and the UK government saying they still can't open until May.

Mattie did not want to wait any longer to get her art to the people, but even organising an online exhibition takes time, impatiently, and very much impulsively under the nudging from Phil the photographer, they took the collection to Cutting Room square in  Ancoats and let the public interact with the pieces. "People can't come to the art, okay let's take the art to the people." says Phil, the photographer.

Thank You

A big shoutout to the following local businesses, creatives and industries who helped make this all happen: Pop Up Ancoats (for the space, the time and all the support), Nam Restaurant (amazing location to get the shots we needed), Phil the photographer (so talented!), Witch Kings Rum (creative juice!), Northern Lights Home, Nathan also the photographer, Block 23, Henshaws and all those close to Mattie during these last 6 months. Thank you!

And lastly thank you to you for also getting involved!