Bethany Stead artist working between drawing, painting, sculpture and textiles, interested in materials that are historically associated with class, gender and sexuality. They use clay, cloth, paper and wood to generate conversations and visual stories which reimagine and disrupt our socio-political fabric.

Her work attempts to explore the discomfort and awkwardness of inhabiting bodies, both biological and artificial, the history of bodily health, the human connection to clothing and costume, the notion of worship and religion, and our relationship with the more-than human sphere through the lens of class. Metamorphic, animalistic and anthropomorphic, painting, drawing and sculptures stand as beings, residing within unsettling or idyllic spaces. Symbolism and archetypes thread through the work, influenced by intergenerational storytelling, her personal writing acts as a starting point for feelings and ideas, drawing on psychoanalysis, iconography, magical realism, science fiction and folklore.