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esmé matthews

@esmematthews_

507

followers

464

following

@eesmee
i am also in @et_al.collective
oh and also MAFA ‘26 @chelseamafa

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cut for my regular customer @esmematthews_

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“The Hold” - The Crypt Gallery

@et_al.collective

03/12/2025 - 05/12/2025

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Under Examination

Very happy to have co-curated Under Examination at Chelsea College of Arts as part of a project with Sotheby’s Institute of Art.

Bringing together works by Karson Selah Samons, Wanqi Zhu, Lara Chahine, Esmé Matthews, Zili Jiang and Qiyue Huang, the exhibition explores the tension between the body as an object of observation and the body as a site of visceral experience.

It was such a pleasure developing the exhibition with Isabel Emmett, Arielle Etheridge and Katarzyna Jabłońska and seeing it finally come together in the space.

Under Examination
Triangle Space, Chelsea College of Arts, London
Until 25 September

Lara Chahine- “Thrones of Earth and Heaven”
4 Lebanese monobloc chairs with metal and ceramic fixings, 2025-2026

Work in progress

Qiyue Huang - “The Endometrial Archive,” 2026

Karson Selah Samons - “April Like A Dream,” 2026
35 mm slide projection, poem with sound, 5min

Lara Chahine - “Bruxism,” 2026
15 x 15 x 10cm
Sculpture, metal found objects

Opening night!

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‘Under Examination @ Triangle Space, Chelsea College of Art’

At Triangle Space, a group exhibition curated by Sotheby’s Institute of Art students examines the body as both an object of scrutiny and a means of understanding an increasingly uncertain world.

- MADE IN BED’s Reviews Co-Editor, Amelia Holdsworth

LINK IN BIO

#MADEINBED
@under_examination @amelia._holdsworth @sothebysinstitute @isabelemmett @arielle.etheridge @_larachahine @z.j3043 @esmematthews_ @zhu_wanqi

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ARTIST SPOTLIGHT — Esmé Matthews

Esmé Matthews is a contemporary artist whose practice explores collective processing of ecological anxiety through sculpture and image-making. Her work conveys ambient anxiety relating to climate crisis and global conflict, expressing concern for earth systems and the influence of capitalism on resource exploitation.

Matthews often works with found objects, resituating them within post-apocalyptic, climate-doom narratives to reconsider their status as “common” objects. Her work critiques the Anthropocene as overly broad, instead focusing on the unrestrained, developmentalist aspects of capitalism as a driving force for climate disaster.
Through apocalyptic imagery and question-based text, Matthews represents the persistent questioning ingrained in our minds today. Ultimately, her work creates an urgent yet grounded concern for the present and future world, contrasted with a desire to return to the natural world.

In Under Examination, Matthews continues this exploration of ecological anxiety and how it is experienced psychologically and psychosomatically.

Work photographed:
Clogged Duct
14 x 31 x 8 cm
Bottle nipples, rusted nails, screws, discarded bottle

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UNDER EXAMINATION
Group Exhibition

To examine is to assume that something can be known. Under Examination exists where that certainty breaks down.

Bringing together works by Karson Selah Samons, Zhu Wanqi, Lara Chachine, Esmé Matthews, Zili Jiang, and Qiye Huang, the exhibition explores the tension between the body as an object of observation and the body as a site of visceral experience.

Across video, painting, and sculpture, the works move between memory, anxiety, violence, ecological concern, mortality, and the everyday, asking what happens when what seems distant or abstract becomes physically and psychologically immediate.

📍 Triangle Space, Chelsea College of Art
16 John Islip St, London SW1P 4RL

📅 17–25 September 2026
Opening reception: 16 September, 6–8 pm

Curated by Isabel Emmett, Arielle Etheridge, Katarzyna Jabłońska & Tara Kubik

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Cut for my lovely friend @esmematthews_ ❤️
Enjoy NY vacation with new hairstyle 💇

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The @chelseaual MA degree show closed today at 4.30pm. You may not have been able to get there, but keep an eye out for these artists as I’m sure they will be popping up in other exhibitions soon!!

Congratulations to all graduating artists.

And apologies I have been too pushed to get this out before now - please let me know if I need to correct any of the tags!! Thank you ❤️

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Some photos from the showcase ✨

A huge thank you to all the wonderful artists who participated! And friends who came out to support!

See you next time 🫶🏻

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Introducing MAFA 25/26 artist Esmé Matthews @esmematthews_

You can see Esmé’s work, along with the rest of MAFA, in our degree show which opens Monday 6th July and runs until Saturday 11th July

Esmé Matthews (b.2002) is an American contemporary artist whose practice explores collective processing of ecological anxiety through sculpture and image making. Her work represents and conveys ambient anxiety relating to climate crisis and global conflict. Using sculpture and installation, Esmé expresses concern for earth systems and the influence of capitalism on resource exploitation, meanwhile her image making goes further into the collective questioning inherent to our social conditioning. Her sculptural work often concerns found objects, resituating them in post-apocalyptic, climate-doom narratives to resituate them as “common” objects.

Concerned with the irreversible effects of capitalism on the natural world, Esmé’s work involves a critique of the Anthropocene as overly broad and suggests shifting blame away from the “human race”. Instead, Esmé points her focus at the unrestrained, developmentalist aspects of capitalism as the driving force for climate disaster. Her work uses apocalyptic imagery with question-based text to represent the persistent and ever-present questioning engrained in our minds today, both inherent to younger generations and as a symptom of the technology era. Ultimately, Esmé’s work aims to create an urgent yet grounded sense of concern for the present and future world, rooted in a rejection of modernization, and contrasted with a desire to return to the natural world.

Further, Esmé is a member of et al. Collective, a London-based artist collective working to build open, equitable frameworks for exhibition making and collective support for emerging artists.

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@esmematthews_

Natural wavy haircut for Esme ❤️

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@esmematthews_ が最初お客さんとして髪を切りに来てくれて、フラットメイトの
@mailyspra に僕を紹介してくれて、2人の髪を切らせてもらって、仲良くなっていって、
３人でランチをして、晴天の中dalstonを３人でぶらぶらしながら2人の写真を撮らせてもらいました。
お客さんとして来てくれた2人の関係性、僕と2人の関係性が写真に出てると思います。
2人とも写真を撮らせてくれてありがとう！いつもどんな人にもフラットなスタンスで優しい2人！本当にラブだよ！❤️

@esmematthews_ first came in as a client, then introduced me to her flatmate @mailyspra. I ended up cutting both of their hair, we got closer over time, and I had the chance to photograph them.

I feel like the connection between them—and the connection I have with both of them—comes through in these photos.

Thank you both for trusting me in front of the camera. You’re always kind and genuine with everyone you meet. Much love ❤️

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