10. Minerva Amiss
“I care a lot about bringing attention to under-represented groups: women, disabled and queer communities”
Minerva Amis is a Clapton-based visual artist. Self-taught, but from a creative family – her father is a woodwork sculptor - Minerva says she and her brother were always encouraged artistically by their mother. Her brother is an architect and Minerva’s home was always filled with “interesting and challenging art”.
After a skiing accident aged 15 left her with a severe knee injury and her subsequent surgeries failed to repair the damage, Minerva was forced to adjust her life in order to live with what had become a disabling condition. After nearly 8 years of working through stages of her new existence with a wheelchair, crutches and then finally a walking stick, Minerva is now able to walk unaided but lives with chronic pain: “…I found myself in a position where I either let it control me or I can take control…. It took me a long time to accept that my disability was invisible, but now I have found a way, within my art, not only to make it visible, but to make it permanent - past having a conversation, my sculptures cement the existence of my pain - to reclaim it and make it beautiful”.
Minerva’s accident inspired in her a desire to create art and, in particular, to make pieces that encourage a dialogue around the invisible disabilities and chronic pain that affect so many people. Twelve months ago she started working with epoxy resin (a clear liquid substance that can be mixed with hardener and then used for casting or encapsulating) and, since then she has been collaborating with others which, in turn, has pushed her towards becoming more of a social artist: “I care a lot about bringing attention to under-represented groups: women, disabled and queer communities”.
For Minerva, the most appealing thing about living in London is that she has access to people from such a wide range of backgrounds: “there are so many people that have so many different stories that are all interesting in their own way” and, pre-Covid, the galleries and art hubs in the city have been hugely inspiring to her. She is exploring ways to make her work as accessible and relatable as possible to all audiences “my intention is to enable empathy and raise awareness around pain and suffering…. It means so much that someone buys into the story I’m trying to communicate. It’s an honour that people want to have my work in their homes or to give to friends”.
She understands that a career in the arts comes with its challenges, supporting herself financially and promoting herself are two significant hurdles. She is represented by the Laura I Gallery and, she says, they keep her informed of bursaries and grants, although these have lengthy and complicated application processes.
Minerva’s sculptures feature everyday objects – used medication packaging, for example and she casts them in epoxy resin, sometimes adding acrylic ink to enhance the story. She works from her home studio, where she tries to produce new work daily “the more I create the more my ideas develop…. I have so many dreams for bigger sculptures, involving more materials. I’d love to have a full workshop one day, to use a greater variety of materials and textiles with tools and machinery - hopefully moving towards studying engineering”.
Minerva sites Sarah Lucas as one of her favourite artists, as well as Eva Hesse, Nicole Tran Ba Vang and her good friend Ranny Cooper.
Minerva’s exhibition To Be A Womxn launched on Artsy on 8th March and runs until 28th. See more of Minerva’s work on her Instagram page here.
Images of Minerva’s work courtesy of the artist.