20/20 meet the artists: Shenece Oretha

In September, UAL announced the eight emerging and mid-career artists in the first of 2 cohorts of 20/20: a national commissioning and network project directly investing in the careers of a new generation of ethnically diverse artists.

20/20 was launched in November 2021 by UAL Decolonising Arts Institute, working with a network of 20 UK public collections, museum and gallery partners, and with funding from Freelands Foundation, Arts Council England’s National Lottery Project Grants Programme and UAL.

We caught up with Shenece Oretha about being selected for the first cohort of artists for 20/20. Her residency is taking place at  The Hepworth Wakefield.

Tell us about your artistic work, discipline & background

"My practice is invested in the mobilising potential of sound and listening in art. Through multi-vocal and multi-channel installations, sculpture, print, workshops and text my work amplifies and celebrates listening and sound as an embodied and collective practice.

"My works are attentive to not just the music, but to the musicality of Black art and life, oral and aural traditions, ceremonies and literature, together with the emotional, physical and communal resonance they generate."

Why did you apply for the 20/20 project?

"The opportunity to develop a work, and work with a collection that speaks to the intersections of my practice, politics and culture. I applied in the hopes of having time to sit with and sound out silences whether that be in the collection itself or in the wider culture."

What conversations, thoughts or feelings do you hope to encourage amongst your audiences during your residency?

"I want to encourage encounters with artworks that are more than meets the eye, that are embodied and aural experiences. Inviting the wider community throughout the residency to opportunities of mutual exchange and allowing space to shape and share moments of collective listening, communion, and commonality."

Follow Shenece Oretha on social media:

Instagram: @oooretha

Website: www.black-whole.info