Sue Webster, Birth of an Icon

Birth of an Icon

31st January - 10th May 2026

Firstsite, Colchester

Defaced leather jackets, memorabilia, self-portraits, video, and installation - journey through a raw, and personal exploration of art, identity, and growing up different.

Marking her first major solo show after a celebrated collaborative career, this landmark exhibition centres on 'The Crime Scene', an installation developed since 2019, charting her life from teenager to now. It is the first time this seminal work has left the studio.

"Seeing my life laid bare before me was like unravelling my brain, only then was I able to see more clearly what needed to happen next as one idea led to another and another in a continuation of the web..." - Sue Webster

At the heart of the show is 'The Crime Scene', an imposing wall-based installation of teenage memorabilia and personal items pinned together with neon orange string connecting each object to resemble a crime scene.

This installation also features a new audio piece with the artist guiding listeners through how each element connects, creating an immersive audio collage.

From this intricate web of ideas emerges a series of artistic journeys, each sparked by the artist's exploration of her influences. One of these threads looks back to her youth, shaped by the music of Siouxsie and the Banshees, which helped guide Sue through a difficult adolescence.

This influence has inspired a dynamic body of work, including a memoir, a collection of altered leather jackets, and a striking set of oil self-portraits.

Also, see eighteen unique leather jackets, hand-painted by Sue, accompanied by a bespoke soundtrack and video footage from a fashion show the artist staged in her studio.

Sue's relationship with her son, Spider-Ray, is explored in a new series of self-portraits, 'Portrait of the Artist as a New Mother', and in 'Birth of an Icon', a shrine including a painting and personal objects relating to his birth.

Photographs by Richard Ivey

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