Cassy Oliphant
Much of my work begins with stories, some from Chinese and European folklore, others from my own family. I’m interested in how these tales overlap, shift, and even contradict one another, and how they change again when seen through the lens of my bi-racial identity.
Stories often arrive at us in fragments. Some are carefully passed down, others are half-remembered, and some are hidden or lost. In my family, memories feel fragile - a combination of spaces in terms of geography, memory and time. Making artwork has become my way of holding onto what might otherwise fade, despite all of its instability.
The materials I use carry this sense of care and repair. In Peranakan embroidery, for example, fabric is both stitched and cut away, creating something delicate but strong. For me, this mirrors how memory works: reinforcing parts, revealing gaps, sometimes leaving scaffolds behind. With cyanotype, images appear only partially, sometimes fading, much like memory itself. Painting brings a different energy - more fluid, intuitive and playful, echoing the shifting, symbolic nature of folktales.
Education & Qualifications
2022 Introduction to Permaculture for Artists and Creatives
2017 Intensive Interaction Introduction Course
2016 Non Violent Communication training
2011 Permaculture Design Course
2010 Pyramid of Arts – In House Training- C3 Creative Communities Course – (Artworks Creative Communities, Bradford)
2007 Crawford College of Art and Design – Cork Art Therapy Summer School
2004-2007 2:1 English Literature with art modules, Leeds University
2002-2003 Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design - Foundation Certificate
Artist Grants
2025-2026 Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP) - Arts Council England
2020 CuratorSpace Artist Bursary
Artist Residencies
2020 Studio Garonne (France)
Parent Artist Residency postponed due to Covid.
2018 Hollybush TCV (Leeds, UK)
Developing the theme of folktale and nature-based painting and illustration at a weekly residency in an environmental conservation centre.
Exhibitions
2025
Solo Show - Scattered Stories - October 2025, Left Bank (Leeds, UK)
Leeds Summer Group Show, Leeds Playhouse (Leeds, UK)
Artists of Heart, (Headingley Enterprise and Arts Centre, Leeds, UK)
Fronteer Gallery, (Sheffield, UK)
2019
Fernie Brae, (Portland Oregon, USA)
Kirkstall Art Trail (Leeds, UK)
2018
Creative Mothers Project, Aire Place Studios (Leeds, UK)
Curated and exhibited
Love Arts Festival, Leeds City Museum (Leeds, UK)
Pyramid Sculpture, Armley Mills Industrial Museum (Leeds, UK)
Ceramic tile sculpture project with Pyramid of Arts
Humankind, Rites of Passage
Curated and exhibited
York River Art Market (York, UK)
2017
Elemental Arts Event, All Hallows Church (Leeds, UK)
Sustainable arts, music and food event)
Stories from Wild Women, Aire Place Studios (Leeds, UK)
Curated and Exhibited
Kirkstall Art Trail (Leeds, UK)
2016
Artonomy (Leeds, UK)
Exhibition of personal work
York River Art Market (York, UK)
Shoddy Exhibition, Live Art Bistro (Leeds, UK)
with Pyramid of Arts High Rise Group
Helping Artists Keep Going
Axis is an artist-led charity supporting contemporary visual artists with resources, connection, and visibility.