The West Dorset artist-researcher transforms Arts University Plymouth’s public gallery into a site of cultivation and experiment, accompanied by a free programme of talks, film and events
MIRROR, the public gallery at Arts University Plymouth, will present SEEDBED, a new solo exhibition by West Dorset artist-researcher Chantal Powell, from Friday 16 October to Friday 11 December 2026. Admission is free, with a public preview on Thursday 15 October from 5pm to 7pm.
Combining ceramic with blown, flameworked and cast glass, Chantal’s new works transform the gallery into a site of cultivation and experiment. Bodily fragments sprout, laboratory forms become organic and symbols fold into one another.
The exhibition develops Chantal’s framework of ‘Vegetal Alchemy’, which uses growth, decay, incubation and regeneration as models for psychological and material change. Drawing on alchemical imagery, ancient incubation rites, mythology and Jungian depth psychology, SEEDBED explores relationships between the body, the psyche, materials and the living world.
Chantal Powell said: “Making is a way of thinking with matter for me. The idea of incubation has become increasingly important within that practice, and it runs through SEEDBED. In a culture that almost fetishises progress and productivity, there is something radical about waiting and allowing something to take shape in its own time.”
Chantal holds a PhD in psychology and works across sculpture, curatorial and collection-based projects, writing and public speaking. She has presented her research into Vegetal Alchemy at Kunstnernes Hus in Oslo and exhibited nationally and internationally.
Her work is also included in institutional group exhibitions opening this autumn at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery in Exeter and the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich. She is the founder of Hogchester Arts, a contemporary arts residency programme in West Dorset, and host of The Red Book Club.
Free public programme
- Preview event: Thursday 15 October, 5pm–7pm at MIRROR.
- Artist talk with Chantal Powell: Friday 30 October, 6pm–7pm at Plymouth Arts Cinema, scheduled as part of Arts University Plymouth’s Making Futures™ 2026 research conference.
- Online conversation with Chantal Powell and Ben Tufnell: Monday 16 November, 7:30pm–9pm. An illustrated discussion with the curator and writer, using SEEDBED to explore symbolic thought and relationships between psyche, matter and the living world.
- To Die into a Bird: film screening and artist talk: Monday 23 November, 6pm–7:30pm at Plymouth Arts Cinema. Anna Kushnerova’s 21-minute Dartmoor film will be followed by a conversation with curator and researcher Orjana Rudeloff.
- Closing exhibition tour with Chantal Powell: Thursday 10 December, 2pm–4pm at MIRROR.
All events are free, with booking through the individual event pages.
MIRROR is at Arts University Plymouth, Tavistock Place, Plymouth, PL4 8AT. Exhibition details and current opening times are available at mirrorplymouth.com/whats-on/seedbed.
