Hattie Hambridge – Turning 4 – Self Portrait
Hattie Hambridge on Turning, Whirling and Transitions
Local artist Hattie Hambridge talks to Jude Montague about her work for the exhibition Extraordinary Odyssey at the Electro Studio Project Space.
Hattie Hambridge is an artist working with photography and film to explore notions of memory, identity and temporality. She uses alternative photographic and filmmaking processes to explore the relationship between body and form, and the materiality of time.
I asked her what Extraordinary Odyssey meant to her as an artist. ‘Extraordinary Odyssey is about hybridity, shape-shifting, a state of growth and becoming and the power of liminal space. ‘
Stills from ‘Loie Fuller’
‘I met Caroline Gregory, the curator of Extraordinary Odyssey through a call out I sent to Hastings creatives about collaborating with local artists. Serendipitously, we found a connection between our work. A piece I made entitled ‘Turning’ mirrored Carolines work surrounding ‘Sufi Whirling’ a dance ritual which involves spinning in a counter-clockwise direction while maintaining a focused, meditative state. We met up under the September eclipse and filmed the piece we will be exhibiting at Extraordinary Odyssey, which involves Caroline Whirling at the shoreline of St Leonards. The piece is a collaboration that marks the beginning of our creative relationship, and embodies a state of transition. In the act of whirling Caroline is caught in a state of endless movement, reprinted frame by frame in cyanotype. The practice of whirling is symbolic of planets orbiting the sun. In the piece, time is altered, and Caroline’s movements are looped to reveal an recurring moment, caught in the act of becoming, spinning in time.
‘The piece is entitled ‘Loie Fuller’ named after the American dancer known for combining her choreography with silk costumes illuminated by multi-coloured lighting. Most people will know her from performance of the ‘Serpentine Dance’. In this dance Loie conjures up time and movement in endlessly morphing forms. She shifts from cocoon to butterfly, bird to flower, wave to sky. The dance is ritualistic and hypnotic, as she sweeps up the elements in her fluid movements. ‘
Natalia Zagorgska-Thomas @nataliazagorgskathomas
Sinéid Codd @sineidcodd
Julia Maddison @juliamaddison
Jude Montague @montaguearmstrong
Luiza Machado @luizamachado2591
Wolfgang Dubieniec @wolfgangdubieniec
Haymanot Tesfa @haymanottesfa
Monika Tobel @tobel.art
Calum F Kerr @calumfkerrart
Miyuki Kasahara @miyukikasaharaart
Marnie Collyer @marniecollyerr
Dylan Coates @dylancoates_
Yumino Seki @yuminaseki
Zeroh @zeroh_studio
Hattie Hambridge @hattiehambridge
James Wilkie @wilkie.xyz
Sarah Sparkes @thesarahsparkes
Eddy Pearson Eddyp12@hotmail.co.uk
Magda Szabert
EXTRAORDINARY ODYSSEY
25-27 JULY 2025
Electro Studios Project Space
Seaside Rd, St Leonards-on-Sea
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