Alison Stirling (with Diya Sengupta) - Flight Exhibition

 

Alison Stirling

Welcome to the Flight Exhibition, a selection of artists’ mobiles celebrating Dagenham’s history of aviation and its transmigratory population. Eleven artists and eleven writers explore this multi-layered theme during March and April at the Pink Tardis Gallery, Heathway Shopping Centre, Dagenham. 

Stare through the Pink Tardis window and marvel at these suspended sculptures, prototypes, and conceptual clouds. If you can't see the exhibition in person then don't worry, we'll be featuring all seventeen artworks here on the website. Every artwork has its very own dedicated writer, and we'll publish their responses here throughout March and April 2026.

Today we are pleased to bring you the work of Alison Stirling, a widely exhibited artist who is new to Collect Connect. Alison's postcard is a reminder of industrial infrastructure once familiar to London and other UK cities and towns but now increasingly the site for urban regeneration in the form of flats and retails outlets. The skeletal structure of the gasometer evokes a powerful stillness, enlivened by a brief flight of birds, perhaps starlings - those great urban dwellers.

Alison Stirling

Our writer today is Diya Sengupta.

An etching 

An etching; I remove
And rewrite, as the sun

hits the ground and

the sky turns to black.

These four words form a groove,

Ink splatters my hand,

A mark upon many,

No sense to relax.

I speak to a ghost;

A version you’re not,

Reaching out in the darkness,

I almost forgot your smile

Is not mine

To look for in rooms.

 Try as I might 

I won’t send the letter,

Now it’s replaced

A stone in my pocket,

Permission to drown,

The flight could be minutes,

Consumed–your moments,

Eyes eager, they sharpen,

A lion or worse

Your fate moves as a predator

And mine hovers, a bird

Whose cage is unlatched,

The circular bell.

Jarring fragments turn and splinter,

One reach to be heard.

 An angel that’s struck me,

I lose both my breathing

And then comes the words,

A lady and a pen

A girl with no voice.

 An etching; it sits

and stays. Rewritten by time

Over many mornings

Where the sun turns high.

Marionette on display,

Who never sends the letter,

A friend and a foe

To some and then none

A cold statue

Becomes one.

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Alison Stirling's work investigates the coexistence of nature and the built up environment; where urbanity encroaches on natures and vice versa in liminal or forgotten spaces. Her interest lies in subverting the genre of landscape painting as ‘scenic view’. She uses photography, collage and art historical references to reimagine landscape in its elemental form. Her paintings evoke a dreamlike quality of both trepidation and equanimity. Alison has exhibited her work internationally including: The Royal Academy of Arts Mall Galleries; Brunswick Art Gallery; Unit 1 Gallery, London. She is a featured Artist for Collective Arts Canada

https://www.alisonstirling.com/

Diya Sengupta is a Masters Graduate Student in English at the University of Oxford. She was Vice President of Warwick University Shakespeare Society, and in 2024 directed the Greek tragedy Electra, for the Warwick Drama Society. Diya is currently a junior editor of The Oxford Blue, Oxford University’s independent and cooperative newspaper.

Oscar Newcombe (with Ginny Reddick) - Flight exhibition

Oscar Newcombe

Welcome to the Flight exhibition, a selection of artists’ mobiles celebrating Dagenham’s history of aviation and its transmigratory population. Eleven artists and eleven writers explore this multi-layered theme during March and April at the Pink Tardis Gallery, Heathway Shopping Centre, Dagenham. 

Stare through the Pink Tardis window and marvel at these suspended sculptures, prototypes, and conceptual clouds. If you can't see the exhibition in person then don't worry, we'll be featuring all seventeen artworks here on the website. Every artwork has its very own dedicated writer, and we'll publish their responses here throughout March and April 2026.

We launch the Flight exhibition with a new CollectConnect artist, Oscar Newcombe. His rotating wooden panel reflects the duality of Dagenham's history. On one side we look up to the skies to see Hardy Amies' costume design for 2001: A Space Odyssey. On the flipside we look down to discover the Dagenham Idol, a Bronze Age wooden statue found in marshland on the north bank of the River Thames in 1922. It is an artwork of aspirations and dreams, fitting for a young artist with a bright future ahead of him.

Our writer today is Ginny Reddick, read her response below.

Oscar Newcombe

There you are,

You went so far,

Now there’s miles in your eyes, and a moon.

Look at you,

The one who flew,

Who heard star songs and orbital tunes.

What did you say?

I missed that, come again,

To the birdsong, the green and the blue.

Do you remember Major Tom

Who strayed too far and stayed too long?

Come back to the green and the blue.

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Oscar Newcombe is a multidisciplined artist who will be studying on the Foundation course at Kingston School of Art (Kingston University) in 2026.

Ginny Reddick is a writer and educator. She was one of the artists who exhibited at the first ever CollectConnect exhibition, Open Fridge, in March 2010. She has curated numerous CC projects including the Walthamstow street art favourite HideBird.

 

Flight exhibition - Pink Tardis Gallery, Dagenham Heathway

 

CollectConnect artists are exhibiting a selection of mobiles at the Pink Tardis Community Gallery in Dagenham Heathway during March and April 2026. The theme, Flight, reflects Dagenham's history of early aviation. In the early 1900s the Royal Aeronautical Society established a test facility for prototypes and experimental flying machines near Dagenham Dock. Several machines were built at Dagenham, including a quadruplane designed by Baden Baden-Powell, brother of Robert, the scouting founder.

In recent years Dagenham has become one of the most diverse boroughs in London, with more than 70 different languages spoken within its boundaries. This flourishing diversity is a result of increased migration over the past two decades. It is an excellent representation of CollectConnect artists who draw upon their rich and varied experiences, backgrounds, cultures and nationalities to display their work here during March and April 2026.

The mobiles hang in the Pink Tardis Gallery, Heathway Shopping Centre, Dagenham. Open Monday to Saturday 8:30am – 8:00pm and Sunday 10:00am – 4:00pm. 

Artists include Francesca Albini, Eskild Beck, Dean Reddick, Alban Low, Bryan Benge, Oscar Newcombe, Melanie Honebone, Stella Tripp, Chris Brown, Alison Stirling and Natalie Low.

During March and April we will be publishing written responses inspired by the artwork here on the website and on Facebook. This includes creative writing from Dom O'Reilly, Bella Weerasinghe, Katerina Koulouri, Simon Tyrrell, Keziah Reddick, Natalie Low, Ed Arantus, Jack Low, Diya Sengupta, Dean Reddick, and Ginny Reddick.

Stella Tripp

A special thank you to Katja Rosenberg of Art Catcher for giving us this opportunity.

Katja Rosenberg, Alban Low and Dean Reddick

Chemicality - Albedium and Inspiration

Today we are returning to 'Chemicality' a slow burning Collect Connect project where we are gathering  elements to create Period Tables and make exciting new discoveries.

Here is our first Chemicality Experiment.....

Experiment - What are the results of mixing Albedium (Ab) with Inspiration (0!)? 

Date: 17 March 2025 

Location: Wallside Chimney, St Giles, Cripplegate, London Wall, London 

Experimenters: Alban Low and Dean Reddick
Apologies: Bryan Benge who was on a field trip 

Aim
A simple aim of locating the elements Albedium and Inspiration and then mixing them together and recording the results.

Method
We found a location where we suspected the two elements would be present. Inspiration, originally discovered by Lesley Cartwright 'Can be found in the most unlikely places but must be used immediately as it tends to dissipate if left unattended' 

Albedium, discovered by Deborah Westmancoat is 'detected at the point where dark, unformed chaos begins to manifest into light, order and form' 

Alban identified an ancient crumbling and shadowy chimney next to a green pond and very quickly found a piece of Albedium. The Albedium had the appearance of solidified smoke and was dark and sooty in colour and wispy in texture. It had little mass.

The Inspiration was found when Alban glanced at the pond through some bushes. The light playing on the water though short lived led us to taking a sample of the water which we immediately added to the Albedium.

Results
The Albedium and the Inspiration formed a small dark pellet-like participate which initially floated in the liquid Inspiration but then sank to the bottom of the test tube. Initial observations suggested that the participate was stable. However on observations at 1 day and 1 week it was discovered that the participate had dissolved into the Albedium Inspiration mixture.

Conclusions
Both Albedium and Inspiration were easy to find as suggested by their Abundance. The two elements reacted and the resultant compound was unstable suggesting that the compound itself was in a state of change over a time of one week. Both Albedium and Inspiration have a temporal quality at Standard Temperature (Evolving and Effervescent) and might explain the dynamic quality of the compound they formed. Further experimentation is required to isolate this new temporal quality found in the compound.

Alban Low and Dean Reddick

The Bastion 12 experiment (Observations of Alban Low)
The Experiment
Just behind the Barber's Physic Garden we found the blackened chimney of the St. Giles Cripplegate City Wall Tower, otherwise known at Bastion 12. As a novice apprentice I got my hands dirty, while Dean took charge of the test tubes and mixing. As I disturbed the ancient soot and cinders in the chimney, a wisp of Albedium escaped, it was feathery and flighty, caught on the chill wind that whistled around the Barbican complex. The Inspiration was easy to find but hard to catch, the dancing light on the Barbican lake gave us a clue, and Dean knelt beside the shallows and scooped some in liquid form. 

We gave the two elements in the test tube a gentle shake, not long after we spotted a small dark pellet. 

The Result
The way that the Albedium (a dark, unformed chaotic element that transforms into a lighter, ordered form) changed made me think that this must be an Answer (to a question). A pill compound that you swallow and it gives you the answer to any problem. I wasn't brave enough to try. Now I know that the new compound disappeared in a few days, makes me think that the problem was only temporary. And just as the problem dissipates so does our compound. 
Future experiments with the Compound

I would like to create the Answer pellet again and see if we can discover the question that it will solve.
Alban Low (March 2025)

Natalie Low (with Dean Reddick) - Sets, Series and Ensembles

Natalie Low

Welcome to Sets, Series and Ensembles, an exhibition of art in public places. Accompanying each public art placement is a 'First Response' for you to read here on the website. As artists and writers we are constantly collecting ideas, objects, themes, and sentiments. We are often searching for the connections and narratives that help us understand both our lives and our art.

Our final set, series and ensemble comes from Natalie Low whose playful art works and beautifully crafted words always light up Collect Connect exhibitions. Today, Natalie's subverted family card game sits patiently in a park waiting to be opened. We wonder what sort of hand might be dealt with this pack! Dean Reddick writes a response.

Natalie Low

Natalie Low

Happy Families

 

The Doctors in the long coats measured the families of the past

And put them in little boxes, neatly measured and labelled.

The Doctors in the sharp suits made paper tools

To measure the new families and sort the typical from the othered.

 

The boxes were left in common shelters and at mundane collection points.

 

But the families were not still and docile.

They reinvented themselves from the inside to suit the needs of the world at large.

They shoved their diagnosis into new shapes and swapped their roles.

They made fun and played happy silly games.

Natalie Low

Natalie Low is a creative knitter, stitcher and quilter. She lives in London, UK with her charming family. She has published two chapbooks Dementia (2015) and recently School Run (2017).

Dean Reddick is an artist and an art therapist. He frequently works with casting processes and loves drawing trees. 
https://deanreddick.blogspot.com/

Chris Brown 1 (with Kim Reddick) - Sets, Series and Ensembles

Chris Brown

Welcome to Sets, Series and Ensembles, an exhibition of art in public places. Accompanying each public art placement is a 'First Response' for you to read here on the website. As artists and writers we are constantly collecting ideas, objects, themes, and sentiments. We are often searching for the connections and narratives that help us understand both our lives and our art. 

It's our penultimate day on the Sets, Series and Ensembles exhibition and it's a familiar face who is back, full of originality and thought provoking art. Chris Brown's artefact looks like it has been liberated from the British Museum, but we find it on a small bridge over a culvert. It's the third of Chris Brown's work for the exhibition and each time a new writer has responded. Today it's the turn of Kim Reddick, who last joined us for the Sentinel Trees exhibition in 2020. Read his response below.

Chris Brown

Pitted iron who holds to history,

Twisted and dulled, beyond its use

It sits on display, held gently

Elevated,

Curated,

Fragile.

It asks of the stands,

"Why am I here, to be held aloft,

I have long since lost my purpose,

My edge is dull, my end blunt,

My metal rusted and thin."

The stands reply,

"We lift you up,

We keep you safe,

Because we can,

Because you were

Useful,

Crafted,

Loved.

Chris Brown

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Chris Brown is an artist, author, editor and art therapist living amongst skyscrapers and regularly exploring the wilder landscapes of the United Kingdom.

Kim Reddick exhibited in the first ever CollectConnect exhibition, Open Fridge. A highlight of his CollectConnect participation was his contribution to Dwell: A book of Nets (published in 2015).

Stella Tripp 3 (with Ed Arantus) - Sets, Series and Ensembles

Stella Tripp 3

Welcome to Sets, Series and Ensembles, an exhibition of art in public places. Accompanying each public art placement is a 'First Response' for you to read here on the website. As artists and writers we are constantly collecting ideas, objects, themes, and sentiments. We are often searching for the connections and narratives that help us understand both our lives and our art. 

We're nearing the end of our exhibition (two more to go), and we've really enjoyed the trilogies presented by both Stella Tripp and Chris Brown. Today we have the third of Stella Tripp's artworks. We are always delighted by the range of work that Stella sends us, and the rich ideas that her art inspires. It is Ed Arantus who takes a walk on the darker side of these themes, read his words below. 

Stella Tripp 3

Pit
Ed Arantus

I stepped to the edge freely, though not so freely as to present myself into apparent danger, they had dug the great pit in the churchyard of our parish, St Mary’s.
A terrible pit it was, and I could not resist my curiosity to peer inside. As near as I may judge, there was about forty in number. Atop the pale and wrapped figures lay on many, a trinket. Sixteen at the time I first looked. It was said they were made by the hand of the kind and kin. I saw the bauble of the Digger and the Dikeman, the Horsehair Dealer and the Feather Wife, the canes of the Nightwalker and Gynour. The sickness was long a-coming to our people, yet, when it did come, there was no family spared, no land nearby where it raged with such violence as ours.

Stella Tripp 3

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Born in Taunton, Somerset, Stella Tripp travelled to her current home in Devon, a very long way round. After a few years in Israel, Stella returned to Taunton to do a foundation course; then on to Portsmouth (BA Hons Fine Art); a few years in London; three in the USA (MA Fine Art; MFA) and a year in Cornwall, before settling in Exeter. Stella works in a wide variety of media, crossing boundaries between drawing, painting and sculpture.

www.stellatripp.co.uk

Ed Arantus is a conceptual artist and writer. He published his first work in the Censored Zine in 2010 and has exhibited his work ever since at venues like the Contemporary Arts Research Unit in Oxford and the Museum of Futures in Surbiton.

https://edarantus.blogspot.com

Stella Tripp 3

Chris Brown 2 (with Jack Low) - Sets, Series and Ensembles

Chris Brown 2

Welcome to Sets, Series and Ensembles, an exhibition of art in public places. Accompanying each public art placement is a 'First Response' for you to read here on the website. As artists and writers we are constantly collecting ideas, objects, themes, and sentiments. We are often searching for the connections and narratives that help us understand both our lives and our art.  

Love is the answer today, and it is our very own creative cupid Chris Brown, who has fired his artistic arrow into the Pevensey Road Nature Reserve in Hanworth. Responding to Chris' artwork is erudite Eros and creative all-rounder Jack Low. Read his response below.

Chris Brown 2

“Baby on board”
reflects in the glass
of the first class carriage,
Displaying over empty seats,
yet the destination 
is filled with open arms 

Armed with cannons
Castles crumble
as if nobody took their first steps within
memories are forgotten
like empty bottles
buried like a mothers touch
And still resurrected years later
within a wooden toy soldiers
brushed off with a promise to cherish 

Cherished unto a fault
The land is torn apart
By the blistering and caring heat
Enacted by a minority
Whilst people rise
And placards are thrown high,
what it means to be human 

Human spirit cries out like tears
shed infront of strangers
and splinters like glass  

I take away the equation
But the love Remains

Jack Low

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Chris Brown is an artist, author, editor and art therapist living amongst skyscrapers and regularly exploring the wilder landscapes of the United Kingdom.

Jack Low is a Brighton based writer. He published his debut poetry pamphlet, aesthetics of a dropout, in 2019. He currently leads a poetry group in Camden.

Alban Low (with Dean Reddick) - Sets, Series and Ensembles

Alban Low

Welcome to Sets, Series and Ensembles, an exhibition of art in public places. Accompanying each public art placement is a 'First Response' for you to read here on the website. As artists and writers we are constantly collecting ideas, objects, themes, and sentiments. We are often searching for the connections and narratives that help us understand both our lives and our art.  

Alban Low

I met Alban 35 years ago when we were both studying on an Art and Design Foundation course in Hounslow, London and I am taking the opportunity of writing todays post to say a big thank you to Alban from Bryan, myself and everyone involved with Collect Connect for his amazing energy, generosity and creativity. 

Todays set of painted pebble people comes from Alban Low and the little faces have made their way to all sorts of places. Dean Reddick provides a rhyme.

Alban Low

Alban Low

Alban Low and Henry Moore

Alban Low

The Dream Of Knuckle Number Five

 

Five Yeller knuckle-heads

Sleeping in their stony beds

Goofy teeth and google eyes

Took the world by surprise

 

Nelly-Knuckle liked to chuckle

Knuckle Lily was loud and silly

Knuckle-me-pink liked a drink

Barny Knuckle was fond of trouble

 

Knuckles number Four to One

Went out in the Yeller sun

Goofy teeth and google eyes

Took the world by surprise

 

Laughing Nelly was first to go

All the way to Walthamstow

Knuckle Lily, being silly,

Went as far as New York City

 

Knuckles number three and four

Followed their sisters out the door

Goofy teeth and google eyes

Took the world by surprise

 

Knuckle-me-pink, what a bum

Ended in a beer drum

Barny Knuckle, for a lark

Claimed a place in modern art

 

But what of Knuckle number Five

Where did they go? Did they survive?

Goofy teeth and google eyes

Took the world by surprise

 

Knuckle Five was never found

Though rumour is they went to ground

Planted in earthy borders

To dream about her son and daughters

Alban Low

Alban Low is an artist and illustrator, working in a signature graphic style for album covers and specialising in impromptu portraits of jazz musicians. He currently presents Directorrific! the radio show for directory lovers.

http://albanlow.com/

Dean Reddick is an artist and an art therapist. He frequently works with casting processes and loves drawing trees. 
https://deanreddick.blogspot.com/