About


Medley is an artist based at Magdalen Road Studios in Oxford, UK with a multidisciplinary practice encompassing photography, moving image, sound, drawing, and painting. Rooted in personal experiences and immediate environment, she translates the elusive emotions and intricate narratives of everyday life into tangible, thought-provoking, and absorbing works.

Recent projects have delved into universal themes such as grief, motherhood, and domestic work. For instance, Birch/Koivu was initiated by feelings of loss and longing after loosing her mother yet also interrogates a position between being a mother and a child; responsibilities and dreams. The Seen and the Unseen: self portraits with domestic work draws on data collected of daily chores over more than six months. Through the combination of rich, captivating visuals and immersive sound, she connects with viewers on an emotive level yet taps into wider feminist narratives.

Medley has exhibited across the UK in London, Oxford, Leeds, and Belfast, as well as internationally in Iceland and New York. As her practice evolves she is excited by the immense potential in combining different media to create immersive and stimulating work.

Education

2009 MA Photography (distinction) University of the Arts London, LCC

2005 PGCE Secondary / Art and Design, University of Greenwich, London

2000 BA/Hons Fine Art (2:1) University of Ulster, Belfast

Solo Shows

2024 - The Seen and the Unseen, My Front Room, Oxford

2001 - Parks and Rooms, Context Gallery, Derry

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024

- Micro Acts 18, Film screening, London

- Who Cares? Fringe Arts Bath, Bath 

- Art-sauce exhibition, Common Ground, Oxford 

- 22 artists, Magdalen Art Space, Oxford

2023

- Air Open 2023, Manchester - online showcase

- The Power of Play, Courthouse Projects, London

- 18 Artists, Magdalen Art Space, Oxford

-For Women by Women lll, Rona Painting Gallery, Oxford

- Inspirational Women Artists, A Space Arts, Southampton

-Latent, Photo Oxford Festival, Magdalen Road Studios, Oxford

2022

-Open Studio, Magdalen Road Studios, Oxford

-Fourteen, The Mill Arts Centre, Banbury

2021

-Fourteen, Photo Oxford Festival, The North Wall Gallery, Oxford

2011

-ArcheTime:Cross-Disiplinary Film Festival, New York

-Bus Stop Cinema, Elysium Gallery, Swansea

2010 -700IS Reindeerland Experimental Film Festival, Egilsstardir, Iceland

2009 -Short Shorts, 42 New Briggate Gallery, Leeds

Publications

Simmonds, Emma, ‘Still Life’, The Big Picture, Issue 8,2010

Source Photographic Review, Issue 24 -Autumn, 2000

Fellowships, Residencies & Awards

2022 -Work Show Grow, Colehayes Park, Devon

2021 -ArtsLab: Women and Photography participant, The North Wall Arts Centre, Oxford

2010 -Shortlisted for Film of the Festival award, 700IS Reindeerland Experimental Film Festival

2001 -Support for the Individual Artist, Arts Council of Northern Ireland

Teaching and Arts Education

2022/23 -Camera Club, The North Wall Arts Centre, Oxford / photography facilitator

2021 -Pegasus Theatre/ Photo Oxford/photography facilitator

2011/2021 -d’Overbroeck’s, Oxford / Subject Co-ordinator - photography 

2005/2010 -Wheatley Park Specialist Media College, Oxford / Teacher - art and photography

2008 -Warner Bros, Leavesden Studios, Hertfordshire / Art tutor to Emma  Watson