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