‘Lisa with Primroses’ by Neeta Madahar

‘Lisa with Primroses’ by Neeta Madahar

Lisa Creagh grew up in Coventry where her parents had settled from Ireland in the 1960s. She studied Fine Art and Art History at Goldsmith College and after graduation made her way to New York using a grant from The Prince’s Trust. Here she developed an art practice, combining painting with digital imaging and photography whilst working in the fringes before moving back to Brighton in 2001. From 2001-2009 she supported herself with work in photographic labs whilst exhibiting early works. During this time she founded The Brighton Photo Fringe, (BPF) a vital grassroots network of photographers.

Tidy Street’ a co-created site specific installation followed in 2006. This Arts Council funded project during the 2006 BPF was a collaboration with residents to transform their street into a nighttime outdoor exhibition of their private photo archives. It received critical acclaim, in press, radio and TV coverage.

A diagnosis of infertility in 2008, resulting from many years of endometriosis, was the impetus for the 'The Instant Garden’, using a combination of digital patterns and floral still life to express mixed feelings regarding years of medicalized fertility treatments. This brought her photography to new audiences and earned her commissions, exhibitions and prizes. It is featured in a 2016 collection by Phaidon on the subject of art and botany and is held in several NHS hospitals and many private collections.

Holding Time began after the unexpected arrival of her daughter in 2012. This work develops ideas and techniques of previous works in combination with techniques and methods employed by activists. It is an open-ended feminist piece designed to create a UK wide portrait of breastfeeding, by collaborating with grassroots groups, health professionals and academics. Since 2017, she has developed a growing team to help produce the workshops, audio, animation, video and other outputs that make up this expansive project.

Designed to overcome traditional power structures and target non-art audiences, the project is disseminated through exhibitions in disused shops, community spaces and hospitals with accompanying audiovisual elements distributed on local radio, Youtube and the web. This project creates a uniquely personal portrait of breastfeeding from multiple perspectives reflecting differences in geography, age, background and culture. It has been exhibited several times since 2018 as an exhibition of stills, a multi-screen installation and a single screen presentation and is held in several NHS collections.