Afra Eisma: splashdown tender - first UK solo show for Dutch artist at the Tetley in Leeds

The latest exhibition is Afra Eisma: splashdown tender, the first UK solo show from the young Dutch artist whose brightly coloured textile works, soft sculptures, sound installations and ceramics spill out in interesting ways across all the gallery spaces. The Tetley’s director Bryony Bond met Eisma on a visit to the Netherlands initiated by Leeds 2023 and funded by the Mondrian Fund which promotes Dutch art and artists around the world.

“I thought it would be brilliant to invite Afra here as it would be a great opportunity to introduce her to UK audiences,” says Bond. “And the fun and playful nature of her work felt like it was a really good fit with the kind of family-friendly programme we put on here. She was really excited to be asked and worked very hard on this show.”

Eisma’s work imagines various different environments from the domestic setting of a lounge, to the inside of a stomach or a convivial gathering of aliens – which is the central artwork in the gallery’s Atrium space. “Afra’s work is very beautiful and accessible and it works for a wide range of audiences from one-year-olds upwards,” says curator Georgia Taylor Aguilar who worked closely with Eisma on the show. “And she has such a sophisticated grasp on the various materials she works with, she creates these huge colourful textiles, puppet theatres and ceramics.”

The show is included in part two of Leeds 2023’s Year of culture which focusses on playing and audiences are invited to interact with the aliens currently resident in the Atrium. People can sit with them, rest on them, touch or cuddle them.

“I saw one child going up to each alien and giving them a kiss,” says Taylor Aguilar. “We are not the kind of exhibition space where people get told off – we are encouraging people to treat the aliens as friends and we have had some quite interesting interactions so far. Overall people are responding really well to the whole show.”

Eisma’s desire to create joyful, comfortable and inviting spaces is in part a response to the sort of unease and discomfort that many have felt about being in social situations following the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting isolation associated with that. As well as an environment for discovery and play, the comfortable, informal space the artist has created is also one where the viewer is free to reflect – and to feel.

“Emotion is another key factor of the show,” says Taylor Aguilar. “Afra is quite an activist at heart and she explores anger in particular as an emotion that can be positive as well as negative. It can be a force for change.”

Featured in the show are some heart-shaped ceramic javelins. “Afra sees these as objects that can be used to ‘stir things up’, and they can also be used to shoot like a bow and arrow,” says Taylor Aguilar. “But she says there are only a certain amount of javelins we can shoot in terms of the emotional capacity we have to engage with issues we care about.”

One of the rooms contains what look like floaty, princess dresses but on closer inspection they have quite a lot to say. “Those dresses are called warrior garments,” says Bond. “They might look like princess dresses but they have Afra’s words of protest woven into them. They might appear quiet but there is a powerful undercurrent of activism.” The woven words address issues from the right of ownership over our bodies to the right to protest.

In addition to the textile sculptures, puppet theatres and ceramic pieces Eisma’s watercolours will be on display for the very first time. “They are really beautiful,” says Bond. “She uses watercolour to draw with and I can understand that because colour is so important in her work. She likes the accidental nature of watercolour and the fact that it doesn’t necessarily do what she wants it to.”

Afra Eisma: splashdown tender is at the Tetley until October 22. Free entry. Some of the works are for sale. thetetley.org