Tom Chamberlain (Studio 103) presents two works in this year’s show: On Air, a delicate watercolour drawing, and Forgetfulness, a small acrylic painting. Chamberlain’s work often explores the limits of expression through minimal gestures, evoking a sense of quiet pursuit, as he puts it, “whatever painting chases after, there’s a degree to which it remains forever out of reach.” A graduate of the Royal College of Art, his practice has been exhibited widely in Berlin and London, and is held in collections such as MONA, Hobart and Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. 

David Chalmers Alesworth (Studio 27) exhibits Swati Pink Redouté, a striking textile work combining 19th-century botanical illustration with traditional embroidery. The piece reinterprets a print by famed botanical artist PJ Redouté, overlaid with fluorescent ‘Swati pink’ thread—a reference to Pashtun resistance and the complex legacies of empire. Alesworth, who works between Pakistan and the UK, brings his long-standing engagement with garden histories and postcolonial identity into vivid focus in this tactile, politically layered work. 

“I take PJ Redouté as the epitome of ‘botany of empire’. These Redouté prints are also scientific documents bearing separate French Latin and English Latin names. Swati pink as a local signifier, one that is read by any Pakistani audience in particular, it has connotations of Pushtoon culture and resistance.” 

Amak Mahmoodian (Studio 110a) contributes a haunting photographic work titled One Hundred and Twenty Minutes. Born in Shiraz and now based in Bristol, Mahmoodian’s poetic photography practice explores the effects of exile and distance on memory, dreams and daily life.  

“In One Hundred and Twenty Minutes (the amount of time we dedicate to dream every night), I have worked with 16 individuals who are exiled from their native countries to live in the UK. Through photography, poetry, drawing and video, I examine the emotional and psychological landscapes of dreams in exile, the new lives we create with these dreams, and the ways in which they keep returning us to our past.” 

The RA Summer Exhibition runs until 17 August 2025. Don’t miss this chance to see work by these exceptional Bristol-based artists in one of the UK’s most prestigious open calls.