Lusus Naturae: Empathy and the Unusual

Venue • The Old Post Office • BA1 1BA • click for map
Opening night • Fri 23 May • 6pm until late
Open 11am to 6pm daily • 24 May to 7 June 2025

NB: the deadline has passed, we are no longer inviting submissions

Artists are invited to submit work for Lusus Naturae, an exhibition examining the complex intersections of empathy, individuality, and the inherent beauty of the unusual. The exhibition takes its name from the Latin phrase meaning “freak of nature,” inviting both positive and negative interpretations of this evocative concept.

We seek art that explores feelings of estrangement, nonconformity, and profound uniqueness, as well as the ways these experiences can inspire vulnerability, connection, and self-acceptance. How does society define “unnatural” and what emotions or judgments are tied to this label? What beauty or discomfort emerges when confronting our own differences or the otherness in others?

Lusus Naturae aims to challenge viewers to see the unusual through new lenses — whether as anomaly, marvel, or something in between — and to reflect on their own perspectives on individuality and belonging.

Metamorphosis of a teenage girl, 2023, Lily Serendipity

Child with impetigo, 2023, Lily Serendipity.

Curated by Lily Serendipity

Lily Serendipity is a multidisciplinary artist working across the South-West of England. From paint and textiles to sculpture, installation, and performance, their process is less about technical mastery and more about processing feelings through making. Their practice reflects on themes of loneliness, awkwardness, metamorphosis, and strained communication. These explorations are deeply rooted in personal memories, experiences and idiosyncrasies but also reach out to reflect relatable universal feelings.

Serendipity often gravitates towards naive, self-taught methods and accessible materials, imbuing their work with a handmade, unserious aesthetic. It invites you into its own vulnerable awkwardness, where imperfection is embraced. Currently, their practice centres cross-stitch and soft textile sculpture, mediums that stretch time while fostering self-reflection and play.

Lily Serendipity is a 2024 Bath Spa University Creative Arts Practice graduate, recently was a part of the group Artist Engagement Fellowship at Spike Island, Bristol 2023/24 and is currently a resident at the Emerge Studios, Bath.

Instagram: @lily_serendipity_