Beyond Redemption – exhibition

Explore the boundaries of crime, justice, and identity at Beyond Redemption, a provocative new art show by graduating MA Fine Art student Kirstin Harvie.

The Hunter Saville Cumbrae Studio & Gallery presents Beyond Redemption, an unflinching exhibition by Kirstin Harvie, exploring the visual politics of crime, justice, and identity.

The show focuses on the 107 individuals in the UK who have served, or are serving, prison sentences with no possibility of release, and challenges viewers to consider how they are represented in the media and the penal system.

The exhibition features monochrome prints and brightly coloured, large-scale portraits. These two bodies of work are placed in deliberate juxtaposition: the prints suggesting anonymity and confinement, the portraits insisting on presence.

27 screen prints on acrylic are stacked, each print is a composite image of four individuals’ mugshots, referencing the 19th-century pseudoscience of criminal physiognomy and its enduring shadow over modern justice systems. The portraits are fractured and reassembled to disrupt information or create absence, physically altering the subjects, as they are by their crimes and media portrayal.

Ethical sensitivity is central to Harvie’s work. Drawing from her academic background in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, she engages with issues of representation, consent, and notoriety. By avoiding sensationalism, she encourages viewers to confront the complexities of justice and form their own response.

Kirstin Harvie recently completed an MA Fine Art in the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies at the University of Leeds. Kirstin’s work was on display alongside four other graduating artists at this year’s MA Fine Art Degree Show in September, The Inside and Outside of Belonging.

Venue

The Hunter Saville Cumbrae Studio & Gallery
14 Guildford Street
Millport
Isle of Cumbrae

Opening times

The exhibition is open Thursday to Sunday, 12 to 5 pm.

Image

Installation view of Beyond Redemption, an exhibition of work by Kirstin Harvie at the Hunter Saville Cumbrae Studio and Gallery, 5 October to 2 November 2025. Image courtesy of the artist.