Reflecting on Elemental: A London Exhibition to Remember
Annette Price
Artist Mee Mee Chai (left) at the Private View, Elemental Exhibition
What a journey. Back in mid 2023, I had an idea: to bring together a group of talented female artists and create an exhibition that celebrated our individual connections with the natural world. I reached out to Yang Xu, Faye Knight, and Mee Mee Chai, they said yes.
Several months of painting, planning, and plenty of behind-the-scenes organising later, the Elemental Exhibition opened its doors on the 5th of March 2024 at the Chelsea Gallery on the Kings Road, London. And what followed was two of the most rewarding weeks of my artistic life so far.
The four of us brought different voices to the gallery walls. Yang Xu's bold, expressive canvases balanced realism and abstraction in a way that stopped people in their tracks. Faye Knight's impressionistic studies of the English countryside, lush, textured and deeply felt, drew visitors straight into the quiet beauty of the natural world. Mee Mee Chai's layered, contemplative works carried a quiet emotional depth that stayed with you long after you'd moved on. And my own water inspired abstract paintings, built up with flowing brush strokes and palette knive marks explored water as a living, transformative force. Each of us fascinated by the effects of different elements on the natural world.
Together, the four collections created something greater than the sum of their parts, a real conversation between different perspectives on nature, the elements, and what it means to paint from a place of genuine passion.
The Private View on the 6th of March set the tone perfectly, a warm, buzzing evening of art, conversation, drinks and new connections. We also had the wonderful support of the Visual Artists Association (VAA), who co-hosted a special networking evening for artists during the exhibition run, a event that led to new friendships and connections.
Over the course of the two weeks, we welcomed visitors from all walks of life: collectors, fellow artists, art enthusiasts, curious passers-by and people who simply wandered in from the Kings Road and stayed far longer than they'd planned. Every conversation, every moment of someone standing quietly in front of a painting, it all made the months of work feel completely worthwhile.
To everyone who visited, shared the exhibition, offered encouragement or helped along the way, a heartfelt thank you. And to Yang, Faye and Mee Mee: it was an absolute honour to exhibit alongside you.
Elemental was everything I hoped it would be, and more. I can't wait to see what comes next.