Floor talk with Eleesa Howard & MPRG Curator, Rebecca Owens

Join us in the foyer at MPRG to hear Eleesa talk about her exhibition Hold Me, Hold Me Close.

In conversation, Eleesa will explore the emotional tension at the heart of her practice—the push and pull between the desire for closeness and the need to protect what feels tender or unresolved.

Working with humble, everyday materials such as fabric, cardboard and paper, Eleesa's sculptures balance strength and fragility with quiet resolve. Bags, bowls and boxes appear as familiar containers, objects made to hold, protect or conceal, echoing the ways we carry our inner lives and shield parts of ourselves from view.

Through stitching, layering and slow, deliberate making, Eleesa reflects on acts of repair, wrapping, holding on and letting go.

This floor talk invites audiences to consider vulnerability not as weakness, but as a form of resilience—and sensitivity as a quiet, sustaining strength.

Image: Eleesa Howard, studio picture, photo credit Cassie Louise Creative.