Apophenia was a new co-commission and the first major solo exhibition in the UK by London-based artist Leah Clements, commissioned and produced in collaboration with Arts Catalyst, Sheffield.
Clements works primarily in moving image, photography and sculpture, to embody moments of transcendence. Often giving a language to personal accounts of hard-to-articulate experiences such as sickness, trauma, insomnia and grief – Clements’ work considers how real or imaginary realms can operate as radical spaces to address collective experiences of illness or disability.
For their exhibition at Peer, Clements produced a new single-channel film, alongside a series of sculptural and audio works. Taking apophenia, a psychological state that is characterised by seeing patterns in unrelated subjects and objects as a starting point, this new body of work explores the complex physical and psychological responses she and other crips have to finding meaning in the experience of illness.
In their single-channel film, also titled Apophenia, Clements observes a central character as she traverses different sites that have contemporary and historic relationships to water as a site for healing. Shot on location in Bath, Wales, London and Bristol, the work moves between the protagonist’s experiences of an ancient Roman thermal bath, where a temple was constructed between 70 and 60 AD, a medieval well that has been a site of pilgrimage and healing since the 7th century, a contemporary luxury spa and a domestic setting. The film’s audio mixes a recorded conversation between Clements and writer, Jenn Ashworth, who discuss Ashworth’s 2019 memoir Notes Made While Falling and the writer's own experiences of apophenia, alongside a music score by Joshua Sabin.
Wall based sculptures act as portals to find hidden meaning and ‘holy’ water offerings line the gallery. An audio description of the exhibition recited by Clements can be accessed and listened to while lying on seating common in wellness clinics, spaces used for psychoanalysis, or the hospital sick bed.
The materiality of disability access and the concept of interdependence inform the way that Clements produces work, as well as how she approaches the exhibition-making process. Critically examining issues relating to the effects of chronic illness and disability within artistic and cultural production, Clements is also one of three authors of Access Docs for Artists, an online resource for disabled artists to communicate their access needs with galleries, art organisations and other employers.
Clements’ exhibition was accompanied by a series of events as part of Peer’s Talks, Events and Workshops programme. Apophenia is part of Peer’s 2026 Programme, which examines themes including the construction of place, sovereignty and community and includes forthcoming solo exhibitions by artists Okiki Akinfe, Dala Nasser and Ceidra Moon Murphy.
Apophenia is 23 minutes long and screenings at Peer began every half an hour from 12pm, with the last screening at 5.30pm. The film has captions which include sound descriptions. A British Sign Language captioned version of the film played at 1pm, and an audio described version played at 3pm daily.
Peer aims to be open and accessible to all. Please find further details here.
Talks, Events and Workshops:
Artist Talk: Leah Clements and Iarlaith Ni Fheorais
12 February 2026, 7-8pm
Artist Leah Clements and writer and curator Iarlaith Ni Fheorais discussed Clements’ new commission, and broader connections between illness, the body, and the production of art. This event had BSL interpretation.
Postpartum Psychosis in Art and Literature with Art Working Parents Alliance
26 March 2026, 6:30-8:30pm
The Art Working Parents Alliance provided an intimate space to explore depictions of postpartum psychosis in art and literature. The session drew from the work of authors including Claire Kilroy, Jenn Ashworth and Rachel Cusk.
Floating in the in-between with Jameisha Prescod
16 April 2026, 7-8pm
A conversation between writer and artist, Jameisha Prescod and Leah Clements on bodies of water and their cultural and psychological associations with healing.
Community Coffee Morning and Curator's tour of Apophenia
30 April 2026, 9:30-10:30am
A coffee morning at Peer with an introduction on Apophenia from Peer’s curator, Beulah Ezeugo.
Biography:
Leah Clements (b.1989 in London, UK). Recent solo exhibitions and performances include INSOMNIA, South Kiosk, London (2022–23); The Siren of the Deep, Eastside Projects, Birmingham (2021); Hyperbaric, Artists’ Association Gallery, Vilnius (2020); and Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary Group Show, Baltic 39, Newcastle (2019). Clements is the first prize recipient of the 2023 Mosaic Art Award, Hauser & Wirth London, and was the first artist-in-residence at Serpentine Galleries (2020–21). They are currently inaugural Artist in Residence at Greenwich Park, supported by Up Projects and The Royal Parks.
Supporters:
Apophenia is commissioned and produced by Peer, London and Arts Catalyst, Sheffield.
Leah Clements’ commission is produced with support the Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants, Art Fund, The Foundation Foundation and Henry Moore Foundation. With thanks to art'otel London Hoxton.
Peer’s 2026 Programme is supported by the Paul and Louise Cooke Endowment.
Peer is an Arts Council England, National Portfolio Organisation and is supported by Hackney Council through a Voluntary Sector lease.
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