Early Career Programme exhibition at Acme Propeller Factory, Syntax

Syntax
Private view: 23 January, 6-8pm
24 January – 7 February 2026
Acme Propeller Factory, 165 Childers Street, Deptford SE8 5JR

Acme, with curatorial support from Auto Italia, presents Syntax, an exhibition of Acme's 2025 Early Career Programme awardees Matilde Araoz Ellis, Meej Douglas, Eilen Itzel Mena and Oto Holgers Ozoliņš. The exhibition brings together new works developed during the artists’ Acme residency spanning drawing, sculpture, moving image, sound and installation. Syntax considers how disparate fragments of emotion, memory, sound and material combine and interact, forming a foundation for creative experimentation that reveals new ways of understanding social history and collective and personal identity.

Each artist approaches this through distinct methods. Araoz Ellis works site-responsively, using clay, stone, textiles and sound to engage with landscapes and their histories of extraction, incorporating archival material directly into the work. Douglas reconfigures and pieces together writing, poetry and film, producing new narratives where repetition, the ‘Cut-Up’ technique (developed by William S. Burroughs, which involves rearranging text to create new meaning), and iterative editing resist linear reading. Mena layers symbols, motifs and text into graphite drawings that trace diasporic memory and the search for joy. Through performative acts and their documentation, Ozoliņš transforms found objects and constructs everyday tools, which function as both sculptural forms and elements of performance.

From its inception, the exhibition establishes a conceptual syntax among these diverse artistic voices, shaping the gallery into a space where each work exists independently, while suggesting points of dialogue and connection. This interplay allows each artwork to be experienced on its own terms while generating unexpected resonances throughout the space and extending into the further perceptions and connections formed by the audience.

Syntax was developed with curatorial support from Auto Italia and thanks to generous support from Idlewild Trust Arts.