For their exhibition at Arts Catalyst, Leah Clements has produced a new single-channel film, alongside a series of sculptural and audio works.
The film travels to sites founded across time, in an attempt to discover meaning in the context of illness. It follows the voice of author Jenn Ashworth slipping into a state of apophenia, which she describes as a ‘relentless, out-of-control pattern recognition’. As this unfolds, the protagonist on screen visits three sites of water, worship, and healing, each a thousand years apart: the ancient Temple of Sulis Minerva at Bath, the medieval St Winefride’s Well in North Wales, and a contemporary luxury spa in London.
The voice positions ‘apophany’ beside epiphany: a delusional conclusion, or a true bolt of insight, as the protagonist pieces together symbols she collects throughout her journey. In the film, this need for pure meaning and the resulting attempts to find it, whether in wellness, spirituality, or elsewhere, is explored as an underdiscussed aspect of being chronically ill.
Join Arts Catalyst for the opening of Apophenia Friday 12 June 2026, 5.30pm - 7.30pm.
Apophenia is open to the public 18 June - 1 August 2026, 12pm - 5pm, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at Exchange Place, S2 5TR. Please see Arts Catalyst’s website for more information and public programme events.
