Make CIC are proud to announce the first exhibition in our new gallery space at our North Docks Site – Sculptor Leah Foulkes, in collaboration with the 2025 Independents Biennial.

The exhibition will be open Monday – Saturday from 11am – 4pm from Friday the 17th of July – Saturday 9th August 2025.

Artist Statement

I have always been fascinated by architecture extending to the appreciation of the derelict,

dilapidated and decayed. The contrasting properties of materials found within the urban

landscape have informed the development of my current sculptural language. I often use

materials and objects taken directly from the built environment without changing their

found characteristics in the construction process. The work I am creating is about the formal

qualities of materials and how I can disrupt or enhance these qualities. I enjoy testing the

limits of materials and exploring the ways to manipulate them into new forms or combine

them in unexpected ways. Space, form and materials are all things I consider when making

the pieces, being informed by the space they will occupy and how the forms created will

challenge that space.

Artist’s Biography

Leah Foulkes is a recent Fine Art graduate from Wrexham University and is now a studio

holder at Stwidio Olivet, where she has spent time producing abstract sculptures inspired by

urban and industrial areas, through a process of material exploration. The contrasting

properties of materials found within the urban environment have formed the development

of her current sculptural language. She predominantly works on large scale three-

dimensional pieces but occasionally dips into painting and drawing too. Growing up in

Ellesmere Port has inspired many of Leah’s use of materials, in particular industrial materials

more commonly used in construction and architecture. Leah enjoys testing the limits of

materials and exploring the ways to manipulate them into new forms or combine them in

unexpected ways.