Dig Me A Grave  
Claye Bowler

21st March - 8th May 2025 | Opening 20th March 6-9pm

Dig Me A Grave is an ambitious touring exhibition by Claye Bowler, featuring sculptural installations that evoke graves and burial chambers. The exhibition explores themes of waiting, transformation, and mortality, offering audiences spaces for rest, introspection, and solace.

Bowler fosters dialogue between communities, creating spaces for connection and reflection. At its core, Dig Me A Grave is an invitation to allyship and understanding, highlighting the experiences of trans and disabled people, while also inviting broader reflection on universal themes of care and transformation. Bowler aims to reach audiences who may not initially identify with the work, using touch, sound, and materiality to create a sense of shared connection.

From remnants of traditional British folk songs, many of which explore burial and the body returning to the earth, to sculptural works that surround and envelop, we are invited to reflect on the cyclical nature of life, death, and renewal, fostering a deeper connection to our shared human experience.

The exhibition features large sculptural works in plaster, latex, stone, and metal, which visitors can touch, sit in, or lie within. Each venue will present different elements of the work, responding to the space and its significance. By encouraging physical and emotional engagement, Dig Me A Grave provides a space to reflect on our interconnectedness and the ways we hold and support one another through life's transitions. Bowler also draws connections between burial and rest, exploring the tensions between more individual experiences of waiting and healing. Moving from the playful, temporary sensations of sand to the permanence of earth, the exhibition reflects on how we process renewal in its many forms.

Claye Bowler invites us to consider the intersections of grief, healing, and transformation, while emphasising the importance of care, empathy, and community. By blending personal, cultural, and universal themes, the exhibition fosters a space where people from all backgrounds can connect, reflect, and find solace in the shared human experience of transition. It encourages us to embrace vulnerability, listen, and support one another in both our collective and individual journeys.

Supported by the Jerwood New Work Fund.

Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.