Group exhibition in Scarborough co-curated by MA Fine Art student Molly Newham features works by students and alumni
Unsettled Grounds is a new group exhibition exploring northern landscapes, places and communities through contemporary art at the Old Parcels Office Artspace in Scarborough.
The exhibition brings together the work of thirteen contemporary artists, including five current and former students from the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies.
Running to 2 November, Unsettled Grounds reflects on the richness, resilience and fragility of northern environments and the ways in which people live, move and make meaning within them.
From photography and painting to sculpture, ceramics, installation and film, the exhibition showcases a wide range of practices that respond to place – wild habitats, urban environments, shifting coastlines and lived landscapes. Together, the works speak to pressing themes of climate change, memory, community and belonging.
Unsettled Grounds exhibition at Old Parcels Office Artspace, Scarborough, 2025. Works by Alice Boot, Rob Moore, Pattie Lean and Joe Cornish. Photo by Molly Newham.
The exhibition has been co-curated by artist and Old Parcels Office Trustee Rob Moore and Scarborough-based artist and co-founder of Mandy Apple Collective, Molly Newham.
Their collaboration brings together established and emerging voices, creating connections across generations and disciplines. Rob Moore said:
“Unsettled Grounds is about artists engaging directly with place – whether through lived experience, memory or urgent environmental concerns. We wanted to create a show that celebrates the north’s diversity of landscapes and artistic responses to them.”
Unsettled Grounds exhibition at Old Parcels Office Artspace, Scarborough, 2025. Artworks by Richard Wincer left) and Hannah Guy (above fireplace). Photo by Molly Newham.
Molly Newham added:
“The exhibition highlights a spectrum of practices – from traditional techniques like etching, painting and ceramics, to experimental installation and staged photography.
“It’s been a privilege to co-curate a show that brings together artists at different stages of their careers, all connected by a shared interest in how landscape shapes us.”
Unsettled Grounds exhibition at Old Parcels Office Artspace, Scarborough, 2025. Paintings by Patti Lean, ceramics by Rachel Wood. Photo by Molly Newham.
Old Parcels Office Artspace is a contemporary arts venue housed in the restored Grade II listed Old Parcels Office building at Scarborough railway station. The gallery presents exhibitions, events and workshops by local, national and international artists.
This latest show at the Old Parcels Office features a range of works by artists who draw inspiration from their northern surroundings, including Joe Cornish, Kane Cunningham, Patti Lean, Debbie Loane, Mandy Payne, Richard Wincer and Rachel Wood.
They are joined by six emerging artists – Alice Boot, Lucy Crouch, Hannah Guy, Molly Newham, Rebecca O’Hooley and Graham Williamson – five of whom are University of Leeds students and alumni.
Unsettled Grounds exhibition at Old Parcels Office Artspace, Scarborough, 2025. Artists from left to right; Richard Wincer, Patti Lean, Joe Cornish, Alice Boot, Rebecca O'Hooley and Mandy Payne. Photo by Molly Newham.
Artist Molly Newham explores shifting landscapes through drawing, sculpture and installation. Her work uses unstable materials and precarious structures to reflect erosion, fragility and change, often weathering over time.
She is co-founder of Scarborough’s Mandy Apple Collective and a member of Yorkshire Sculpture International Network 2025. Molly graduated with a BA Fine Art degree from the University of Leeds in 2023 and is currently completing an MA in Fine Art.
Molly Newham, Erosion Term IV Deposit, 2023. Photo © the artist.
Molly said:
“I believe the landscape of the North and the artists that work there are both extremely special. When bringing together the range of artists for this exhibition I wanted to challenge perceptions of landscape art as a genre.
“The show includes film, ceramics and abstract paintings, all challenging our understanding of what the northern landscape is. Themes such as finding comfort in nature, familiarity and belonging – as well as inner landscapes and identity – are threads which tie the works together.
“We wanted to celebrate artists who have worked in the field for many years, as well as those newly exploring these themes and concerns. Other works explore urban landscapes, or consider the way natural materials can be used to make a piece.
“I’m thrilled with the way the show came together and how the artists have engaged with it.
Unsettled Grounds exhibition at Old Parcels Office Artspace, Scarborough, 2025. Artists from left to right: Debbie Loane and Molly Newham. Photo by Molly Newham.
Rebecca O’Hooley creates semi-abstract autobiographical paintings that explore intimacy, family and human relationships through the metaphor of landscape. Woodland and natural imagery combine with layered patterns, symbols and marks to suggest multiple narratives.
A Leeds Arts University graduate, Rebecca is now completing an MA Fine Art at the University of Leeds. Earlier this year, Rebecca’s work was selected for Leeds Summer Group Show at Leeds Playhouse – an annual open-call exhibition celebrating visual arts talent from across the UK.
Rebecca O'Hooley, Danefield View, 2025. Oil on linen, 60cm x 44.5cm. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Following obtaining an MA Fine Art in 2019, artist Lucy Crouch is currently completing a practice-led PhD at the University of Leeds, supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
Lucy explores drawing as both process and gesture, working across two and three dimensions. Her practice examines marks and traces left when materials meet: graphite on paper, water on rock, mud slipping on a cliff.
Other recent exhibitions of Lucy’s work include Practice holds Discovery at Patrick Studios (Leeds), Running Along the Contours (a solo show at Assembly House in Leeds) and the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize exhibition (London).
Lucy Crouch, Dripping, Slipping (2022). Charcoal ink on Ilford photographic paper. 50.8 x 61cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Alice Boot graduated last year with a BA Fine Art from the University of Leeds and was recently announced as the winner of the FUAM Graduate Art Prize 2025.
Alice works with fibre, burlap, charcoal, clay and natural materials to create hybrid forms balancing fragility with resistance. Inspired by Magdalena Abakanowicz and by coastal environments, their sculptures explore decay, transformation and renewal. By combining fibre with found objects such as ash branches, metal and ceramics, Alice constructs works charged with tension and possibility.
A new solo show of Alice’s work – Familiar Threads – opens at Sunny Bank Mills in November, created as part of winning a Berkofsky Award 2025 earlier this year from the University of Leeds.
Alice Boot, Clay Enforced Fibre, 2025. Burlap and clay, 30x20x18cm. Courtesy of the artist.
BA Fine Art alumna Hannah Guy graduated from the University of Leeds in 2023.
Hannah is a Leeds-based photographer creating large-scale tableaux that reconstruct dream imagery. Drawing on her own dream journals, she collaborates with family and friends to stage detailed, symbolic narratives that question subconscious memory. Combining cinematic staging with documentary traditions, her work explores paradox and recurring motifs.
Hannah recently completed a residency thanks to winning an Accelerator Bursary 2025 (funded by Leeds Art Fund and delivered by Leeds Art Gallery in partnership with Assembly House) which culminated in an exhibition at Assembly House earlier this month.
Hannah Guy, Of Water and Its' Memory, 2025. Photo © Hannah Guy.
Hannah said:
“It’s been fantastic to be invited to take part in this exhibition celebrating northern landscapes, especially as my work explores the point where emotion and ethnography meet photographic landscape.
“I’m particularly thrilled to be included in the emerging category alongside such an exciting lineup of fellow alumni artists!”
Poster for Unsettled Grounds exhibition at Old Parcels Office Artspace, Scarborough, running from 11 October to 2 November 2025.
More information
Unsettled Grounds runs at Old Parcels Office Artspace, Scarborough, from 11 October to 2 November 2025.
The gallery is open Thursday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm. Entry is free.
Feature image
Unsettled Grounds at Old Parcels Office Artspace, 2025. Artists from left to right: Richard Wincer, Patti Lean, Joe Cornish, Alice Boot and Rebecca O'Hooley. Photo by Molly Newham.
