Gemma Cook

I am a dynamic artist, my approach is immersive and performative, combining spontaneity and reflection, captured in layers of rhythms and refrains. There is an element of biographical journeying permeating through my work; a constant search to understand meaning in experience.

Elements of my iterative process include, repetition, refrain, pealing back layers, and laying down layers. These are explored through intuition, play, and being present to the unknown, the surprising, and shifting meaning.
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I started my art practice through life drawing nearly twenty years ago. This has been informed by twenty years practice as a physiotherapist, which has given me a deep and embodied understanding of the human form, and drives a performative process to my drawing. I have worked as a physiotherapist in varied low and high income contexts, including Afghanistan with the International Committee of the Red Cross.
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My professional vocation now involves advocating for international disability inclusive human rights. Both my professional advocacy work and my artwork are driven by a curiosity to understand how networks of power structures and practices of freedom impact on the individual.

My current position as an ESRC scholarship doct...

Doctoral Student, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, Grand Union Doctoral Training Pathway, Hosted by Brunel University London
MSc, Global Health Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
BSc, Physiotherapy, King's College London
BA, Combined Arts University of Liverpool

'Unchartered Togetherness', part of group show, i360 venue, Brighton Arts Festival May 2023
Sussex County Arts Club, 1st Prize Winner, Brighton Arts Festival May 2022
Gypsy Hill Brewery, South London, Solo Show, September 2018