What happens when the quiet, fleeting rituals of daily family life – a shared cup of tea, an afternoon conversation, or a child’s game – are lifted from the living room and placed into a gallery space?
This is what multidisciplinary artist and MA Fine Art student Gemma Garley is exploring in her interactive exhibition, Shall We Sit at the Table, currently running at The Bug Basement at Arts University Bournemouth (AUB).
Drawing deeply on her personal experiences of family life and motherhood, Gemma’s work investigates how habitual domestic activities shape our relationships and connections.
By combining photography, tactile materials and participatory encounters, she transforms the familiar into powerful opportunities for sensory engagement and social interaction.
Rather than viewing the home as a private, closed space, Gemma’s practice treats domestic routines as a rich cultural landscape. Her exhibits invite visitors to step beyond passive observation, encouraging them to actively participate in the creation of new connections and collective memories.
“My practice explores family dynamics, memory and the negotiation of shared domestic spaces through everyday materials, objects and interactions,” Gemma shares. “I want to ask how the seemingly insignificant moments of everyday life might become meaningful encounters through art.”
The exhibition offers audiences a thought-provoking and welcoming environment to reflect on the unnoticed beauty and emotional weight of everyday routines, bridging the gap between private family life and shared public space.
Shall We Sit at the Table is running in The Bug Basement until 4 November, following a private view held on Friday 30 October.
