collecting with a conscience…

Purslane was founded in 2020 to shake up the status quo of the art market and promote a more socially conscious way of investing in art while supporting emerging artistic talent and raising awareness around philanthropic causes. The new gallery initiative is the gallery model of the future, disrupting and democratising the institutionalised art market by directing the majority of the proceeds to the artists and charitable organisations.

We are excited to share a solo presentation of works by Alanna Hernandez, ‘Follow the Darkness Down’ with 25% of all sales being donated to Alanna’s chosen charity, Sudan Mutual Aid Coalition,"I chose Mutual Aid Sudan Coalition because of the lifesaving work they do funding Emergency Response Rooms. These provide food, medecine, and supplies to those who are facing famine and displacement due to the ongoing civil war in Sudan. Recent funding cuts by the US government have led to the closure of soup kitchens, putting even more people at risk of famine."⁠

In this body of work, as the title of the fundraiser hints, Alanna is using her artistic practice as an opportunity to explore the shadow self. The work draws inspiration from dreams, intuition and the unconscious mind; processes that are synonymous with those found in Jungian/depth psychology. Using such techniques and through uncovering memories and feelings that emerge in fragments, Alanna develops a personal visual language through abstract forms and gestures that give substance to seemingly non-physical thoughts and feelings. This personal visual language sees ribbons and folds being symbolic for emotional complexities, entanglement and layers of experience. Spirals, representing cycles, motion and an internal descent ( a common motif in female initiation myths and fairytales). Areas of darkness hint at the notion of the unknown, what is hidden and submerged, and its counterpoint; the light areas suggest revelation, awareness and heightened presence. Forms that coalesce in a sharp point suggest pain that has the possibility to convey insight and spark transformation. Both the title and the work itself has subtle echoes of deep-sea exploration and the possibilities that come with it; navigating strange new forms, partially obscured in darkness, some of which emit their own light. A notion which is redolent of Jung’s belief that “the shadow is ninety percent pure gold.”

An online fundraiser in celebration of International Women’s Day. Raising funds for Women’s Aid, a British charity working to end domestic abuse against women and children.

‘What She Said’ brings together the creative work of a group of some of the most exciting female and non-binary artists currently practising in the UK. The title is a play on the widespread crass sexual innuendo, ‘that’s what she said,’ reframed and rearticulated as an invitation to observe the voices of women, represented here, through their works of art.

Contributing artists: Bobbye Fermie, Azzurra Galatolo, Alma Berrow, Colette LaVette, Nooka Shepherd, Pollyanna Johnson, Yishi Chen, Emily Ponsonby and Catherine Repko

25% of all sales will be donated to Women’s Aid.