My artistic practice is concerned with the death of humans and the more-than-humans; the bodies falling through the cracks of the system. I’m affected by the loss of human corps: kids in wars, females to gender violence, adolescents to knife crime, diamond miners to greed… And the loss of ecosystems and bodies of water, too. I find meaning in transforming everyday materials into physical metaphors. From wearable healing rings created from police-confiscated knives to an iron plaque depicting the haunting profile of a woman and her unborn foetus, forged from the same iron ore that killed them both in a mining disaster, my work uses matter that matters to amplify the stories that desperately need to be told.
I’m interested in tension; the type in old-fashioned fairy-tales, where the witch eats the kids instead of the candy, and my works always harbour a deep connection to the visceral and the uncanny. Growing up, I was deeply connected to my maternal ancestors, women who transformed materials through alchemical processes and rituals – cooking oil into soap and blood into food. These traditions and crafts left a profound impact on me and now, I often think through objects and processes. I employ sculpture and large site-specific installations, as well as embroidery, goldsmithing and silversmithing, drawing, photography, video, and performance to tell those stories. I often take advantage of domestic objects loaded with significance and meaning, accumulated over years of everyday use. These simple materials scale my ideas down to a relatable scale, creating an intimate dialogue that channels large social, economic and political agency through the lens of familiarity and tactility. I believe we can touch a thought and experience a physical response to an idea.
I feel the superpower of craft is its ability to seduce audiences and make complex concepts accessible. My work often draws on tension and trauma, inviting audiences to grieve with different degrees of engagement. Sometimes, it’s a simple crafted object or installation that fosters engagement. Other times, this space for individual and collective narratives is created by social engagement processes that enable me to create collaboratively with others.
Creating art helps me cope with the injustices of this cruel world we live in; to process humanity’s tragic histories of abuse, exploitation, and inequality. I hope it will also help others.
About
Arabel Lebrusan’s artworks are often recognised by the use of everyday materials, revealing the beauty and uncanny horrors of our present and past times. Her artworks, often sculptures and site-specific interventions, address wider issues of power relationships and exploitation. Lebrusan’s 20-year career in the arts is inextricably interwoven with her activist work in the world of jewellery.
Her latest body of work examines the extraction of natural resources and ecological grief through the lens of ecofeminism and social history. In 2021, Lebrusan was awarded a research fellowship at the Centre for Spatial, Environmental and Cultural Politics at the University of Brighton for her two-year-long project, Toxic Waves. Following this, she pursued an MA in Sculpture at the Royal College of Art in 2023.
She has exhibited and created site-specific installations at Bermondsey Project Space (2024); Standpoint (2023); The Higgins Bedford (2021); Brighton CCA (2021); Women’s Support Centre, Surrey (2021); Museum of St.Albans (2015); St.Paul’s Square, Bedford (2012); Art in Fuse, Rotterdam (2005); Lunâ Art Collective Gallery, Cebu (2004); Gesundbrunnen bunker, Berlin (2000). Her TEDx talk on ethical jewellery and her campaign raising funds for Global March against Child Labour are examples of her international activist work. She was also awarded Designer of the Year (2022) by the National Association of Jewellers, UK and was the winner of Eastern Approaches (2014) at UH Galleries, Museum of St.Albans.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS, PROJECTS & COMMISSIONS
Upcoming- HomeLAND. Socially engaged site-specific installation. Southcombe Barn. Devon. June 2025
2022 Toxic Fragments; harvesting empathy & coping with ecological grief through touch. Fishing Quarter Gallery. Socially engaged workshop. Brighton. UK
2021 Toxic Waves I; Harvesting empathy and coping with ecological grief through drawing. Socially engaged performance. Brighton CCA. UK
2021 Blunt Blades – extended until July 2023. The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum. Bedford. UK
Blunt Blades Exchange. Socially engaged art project. Supported by Quiet Down There with Women’s Support Centre Surrey. UK
2015 Freehold. UH Galleries. Museum of St. Albans. St. Albans. UK
2013 Laced words. Site-specific installation. In collaboration with artist Kathy Hinde. Commissioned by Bedford Creative Arts. 1 St Paul’s square. Bedford. UK
2012 Large Lace: A Choreography of People and Pattern. Socially engaged performance at Bunyan Hall. Commissioned by Bedford Creative Arts. UK
2012 Lace in Place. Site-specific installation of socially engaged art. Commissioned by Bedford Creative Arts. 1 St Paul’s square. Bedford. UK
2011 Fence Ragging. Guerilla textiles. Socially engaged art project. In collaboration with artist Dawn Giles. The Big Lunch. Bedford. UK
2004 El Rosario de la Abuela (Grandmother’s Rosary). In collaboration with Olga Parra Benavides. Lunâ Art Collective Gallery. Cebu. The Philippines
2001 post_puke_bunny@hotmail.com. Moira Gallery. Utrecht. The Netherlands
2000 Duurzaamheid Verbeeld. Site-specific project with Hogeschool van de Kunsten. Utrecht. The Netherlands
1999 Park van de toekomst. Project with Gerrit Rietveld Academie. Westergasfabriek. Amsterdam. The Netherlands
1999 El cuaderno rojo (The red notebook). In collaboration with Laia Fábregas Ferrús. Cervantes Institute. Utrecht. The Netherlands
2025 Folklore. Toadlickers Collective. Marine Workshops. Newhaven
Accelerate action. Equalities Work. The Foundry. London
2024 Hysterical 2024. Hysterical Collective. Bermondsey Project Space, London, Uk
London Art Fair. London, Uk
2023 Cura. Curated by Celina Loh/In Transit. Smolensky Gallery. Manchester. UK
BRINK. Royal College of Art. London. UK
Hung, Drawn and Quartered. Standpoint Gallery. London. UK
Hands. Koop projects. Brighton. UK
2022 In & Beyond the Studio. Residency & Online Exhibition. In Transit Space, International Platform
Despite Extractivism. Extracting Us Collective. Online Platform
2020 In my house 4. Virtual exhibition. The AntiMA. Curator: Abigail Mille. UK
2016 Gothic Pleasures. Eagle Gallery. London. UK
2015 NN Open. NN Contemporary Art. Northampton. UK
MK Calling 2015. MK Gallery. Milton Keynes. UK
2014 Eastern Approaches. UH Galleries. Museum of St. Albans. St. Albans. UK
2013 Open Exhibition. Curated by Gareth Bell-Jones (Wysing Arts Centre) and Jennie Syson (SYSON Gallery). NN. Northampton. UK
2011 Eastern Pavilions. Norwich Museum and Art Gallery. Norwich. Atrium Studios. University Campus Suffolk. Ipswich. UK
2009 London Art Fair. Rebecca Hossack Gallery
2008 Art London. Rebecca Hossack Gallery
2008 Object as Muse. Crafts Council touring exhibition. UK
DNA. Rising talent at FORM London. London Olympia. London. UK
TREASURE at the Tower of London
Craftsmanship and Design Awards. Goldsmiths Hall. London
Art Hand Design. Central St. Martin’s, London
2007 Craftsmanship and Design Awards. Goldsmiths Hall. London.
2005 Kunstroute Noord: Business as Usual. Artinfuse. Rotterdam. The Netherlands
2004 …prospecten van nooit vermoed schoon. Tent. Rotterdam. The Netherlands
2003 Fotonoviembre. Tenerife International Photography Biennial. Islas Canarias. Spain
2002 Eindelijk. Moira Gallery. Utrecht. The Netherlands
2001 Utrechtse Kunstmanifestatie. Janskerk. Janskerkhof. Utrecht. The Netherlands
Private in public. Exposorium.Vrije Universiteit. Amsterdam. The Netherlands
2000 Kunst met een grote U. Verzorgingscentrum Titus Brandsma. Utrecht. The Netherlands
Who are we. Louka monastery. Znojmo. Czech Republic
Duurzaamheid Verbeeld. Griftpark. Utrecht. The Netherlands
Bunker(t)raume. Gesundbrunnen bunker. Berlin. Germany
Park van de toekomst. Westergasfabriek. Amsterdam. The Netherlands
AWARDS & RESIDENCIES & FELLOWSHIPS
2024 Quiet Down There. Residency at Brighton Open Market. Brighton. UK
2023 Collective Conversations. Residency with Social Circles Collective. Phoenix Art Space. Brighton. UK
2022 In Transit Space. Residency & Online Exhibition. International Platform
2021 Research Fellow at Centre for Spatial, Environmental and Cultural Politics.University of Brighton. UK
2017 Summer Lodge. Residency at Nottingham Trent University. UK
2014 Winner. Open-Call Eastern Approaches. UH Galleries. Museum of St. Albans. UK
2005 Arts for social change. Residency with Pioneers of change. Johannesburg. South Africa
2003 Arte y saber (Art and knowledge). Residency with Arteleku. Donostia-San Sebastián. Spain
2002 Comunitat/community. Residency with Fundacio d’Estudis Superiors d’Olot.Coromina. La Garrotxa. Spain
2000 Who are we. Residency at Louka monastery. Znojmo. Czech Republic
GRANTS & SPONSORSHIP
2021 Project Grant Arts Council England. Grant for “Blunt Blades”. The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum. Bedford. UK
2020 Arts Council Emergency Response Fund
2015 GfdA Arts Council England. Grant for “Freehold”. UH Galleries. Museum of St. Albans. UK
2012 GfdA Arts Council England. Grant for “Lace in Place”. Bedford. UK
2004 Private Business. Sponsorship for ‘El Rosario de la Abuela’. Cebu city. The Philippines
2003 CBK Rotterdam. Exhibiting Abroad Grant for “Fotonoviembre”. Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Spain
2001 KF Heinfonds. Sponsorship for “post_puke_bunny@hotmail.com”. Moira Gallery. Utrecht. The Netherlands
2000 Hogeschool van de Kunsten. Grant for “Who are we”. Znojmo. Check Republic
Pritt. Henkel Nederland B.V. Sponshorship for“Bunker(t)raume”. Berlin. Germany
1999 Instituto Cervantes. Sponshorship for “Park van de toekomst”. Amsterdam. The Netherlands
Erasmus Grant. Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Spain
EDUCATION
2023 MA Sculpture at the Royal College of Art. London. UK
2007 MA Jewellery Design. Central St. Martin’s College of Art & Design. London. UK
2000 BFA Fine Arts. Erasmus Exchange Program. Hogeschool van de Kunsten, Utrecht. The Netherlands
1998 BFA Fine Arts. Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Spain
1993 Gemmology. Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Spain
1997 Goldsmith Diploma. Centro de estudios joyeros de Madrid. Spain
GUEST LECTURESHIPS & WORKSHOPS
2023 Open Forum on Art and Activism: Extractivism and the “Green Transition”. Centre for Spatial, Environmental and Cultural Politics. University of Brighton. UK
2022 In Conversation with Sophie J Williamson and Xavier Ribas, moderated by Katy Beinart. Centre for Spatial, Environmental and Cultural Politics. University of Brighton. UK
2018 Fair Luxury at the Royal College of Arts, London. UK
2017 FLUX: Fair Luxury Conference. The Assay Office Birmingham. UK
2017 A panel discussion: sustainable jewellery in conflict areas. ISKAR, London UK
2015 TEDx Talk. TEDxBedford. Ethical Jewellery. Click HERE to watch
2015 ColLaborate2. Guest lecturer. Bedford Creative Arts. Bedford. UK
2014 Weaving a Web. Socially engaged workshop. In collaboration with artist Aaron Head. Milton Keynes Gallery. UK
2013 Associate Lecturer. Central Saint Martins, University of The Arts London. UK
2010 Canadian Women’s talk. Guest lecturer. Quebec house. London. Uk
2010 Aesthet(h)ics Society. Guest lecturer. Warwick University. Uk
2005 Behaviours. Guest lecturer. University of Cebu. The Philippines
2005 S.O.S. Children Villages. Workshop. Johannesburg. South Africa
2005 CIDA Campus University. Workshop. Johannesburg. South Africa
COMMERCIAL COMMISSIONS
2001 Permanent Art Installation. Press Museum. Amsterdam. The Netherlands
Permanent Art Installation. Aboriginal Art MUSEUM. Utrecht. The Netherlands
2000, 2001 Trophies-Sculptures for Instituto Cervantes Literature Awards. Utrecht. The Netherlands
2000 Trophies-Sculptures for the Music Awards “Dutch Jazz Competition”. Amsterdam. The Netherlands
1999, 2000, 2001, 2001, 2003, 2004 Trophies for the Music awards VNP. Vereniging Nederlandse Poppodia. Amsterdam. The Netherlands
For The Jewellery Studio & Jewellery commissions please visit: https://www.lebrusanstudio.com
PRINTED PRESS
2024 Meet Hysterical’s next-gen of creatives celebrating art as activism. Bricks Magazine. April 24
2015 Exhibitions. Arabel Rosillo de Blas (Lebrusan) review by Skye Sherwin. The Guardian Guide. Jul 2015
Pick of the week. St Albans Museum. The Guardian Guide. Aug 2015
Solo Show Focus on St Albans. Hertfordshire Life Magazine. Jul 2015
Installation celebrates affluent city of St Albans. Hertfordshire Life Magazine. Jul 2015
Award-winner’s free exhibition. Welwyn Hatfield Tines Series. Jul 2015
2014 Artist Bag top prizes in Contest. Bedford Today. 11th Dec 2014
Arabel’s mixed media won the approval. St Albans & Harpenden Review. Dec 2014
2013 Almanac Festival. The Bedford Clanger. Feb 2013
2012 Lace in Place. Bedford Creative Arts goes Large. The Bedford Clanger. May 2012
Lace Inspiration. The Castle Quarter. Apr 2012
Lace in Place. The Castle Quarter. Jun 2012
Lace still in Place. The Castle Quarter. Aug 2012
2012 From sculpting to a lace record. Bedfordshire Times & Citizens. May 2012
Bedford Creative Arts unveiled its Lace in Place commission at 1 St Pail’s square in May. The Bedford Clanger. Jun 2012
Lace stays in Place. Hurrah! The Bedford Clanger. Aug 2012
Lace in Place – A response. The Lace society. Issue 198. Nov 2012
Lace in Place – Bedford. The world in Lace. Quarterly Journal of the International Bobbin and Needle Organisation. Nr 4. 2012
2005 Poppodium is meneer. de Volkskrant. Jun 2005. NL
2004 Grandmother should know. Cebu Daily News Life. April 2004
2001 Utrechtse kunst in Janskerk opvallend sober. Utrechts Nieuwsblad. Sept 2001
2001 Private in Public. Storing on een gebreide televisie. de Volkskrant. Mar 2001
2000 Waar Blijft ie toch? Rotterdams Dagblad. Jul 2000. NL
Im Gesundbrunnen-Bunker kam die Erinnerung zuruck. Berliner Abendblatt. May 2000. DE
Anstieg in die Unterwelt. Tagesspiegel. May 2000. DE
Nederlandse kunstenaars in Berlijnse ‘onderwereld’. Telegraaf. May 2000. NL
Utrechtse eierkunst in nazibunker. Utrechts Nieuwsblad. 2000. NL
ONLINE PRESS
2024 Women’s History Month exhibition raises funds for LGBTQ+ charity SE Londoner March 2024
Meet Hysterical’s next-gen of creatives celebrating art as activism. Bricks Magazine. March 24
2023 In Transit presents Cura. Manchester Finest. Nov 2023
2021 Exhibition with knives and weapons confiscated by the police comes to The Higgins Bedford. Bedford Today. Nov 2021
Contemporary Intervention by Leading Artist Arabel Lebrusan Opens at The Higgins Bedford: Blunt Blades. Bedford Borough Council. Nov 2021
Contemporary intervention by leading artist Arabel Lebrusan opens at The Higgins. Beds Bulletin. Nov 2021
Blunt Blades: Award-winning ethical jeweller Arabel Lebrusan recycles police-confiscated knives for new art exhibition. The NAJ. Nov 2021
2016 Gothic Pleasures. Review of the exhibition in Women in Art. Jun 2016
2014 Artwork exploring “hidden violence in homes” wins this year’s East Approaches competition. Watford observer. Dec 2014
2012 Celebrate town’s history of lace making. Bedfordhsire on Sunday. May 2012
CONTACT
For Studio Visits and/or potential commissions just drop me an email, I’m always happy to chat.
arabel (at) arabellebrusanart.com
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