Trans Artist Will Share Experiences of Transition in New Exhibition at Warrington Museum and Art Gallery

A new exhibition offering a forceful insight into an artist's own experiences and relationship with gender is coming to Warrington Museum and Art Gallery.

Skye Baker's solo show, Foreign Bodies, will open on Saturday, 12 July, and will feature confrontative performance and video-based work in response to the psychological and physical impact of her transition journey.

The exhibition also aims to convey the broader experience of the trans community in the UK as a whole – exploring how these people are perceived amid a divided society.

Trans rights have very much been in the media spotlight recently after the Supreme Court ruled in April that the legal definition of a woman within the Equality Act 2010 is based on biological sex.

It's an issue that continues to prompt fierce debate and polarise people, but Skye's only hope is that visitors go in willing to see things from a different perspective.

The 18-year-old said: “I do think the exhibition has something to offer to everyone, regardless of their views, and I'm curious how different people will interpret my work.

“Everyone is welcome and visitors don't need any prior knowledge, just to try to keep an open mind.”

Skye is featured in all of the work and while inspiration has been drawn from her own life, she sees Foreign Bodies as a representation of something bigger.

She added: “I'm not covering my single experience, rather, using it to convey the larger experience of the trans community, its place in society and how people perceive it.” 

One of the key elements of the show is the notion of always feeling judged or being viewed with suspicion, and the anxieties and frustrations associated with having little control over people's preconceptions.

Skye, who has lived in Warrington all her life and has just finished an Art Foundation course at Priestley College, said: “There's this interaction experienced within lots of marginalised communities where strangers think they have the right to question incredibly personal aspects of someone's identity, despite knowing nothing about them.

“In this exhibition I explore the uncomfortable public interactions that this behaviour can create.”

Despite the show's powerful themes, there is also a playful, interactive element to Foreign Bodies where people can manipulate the exhibition experience and go on their own journey with it.

“The visitor gets to make a choice after watching each piece, which directs them where to go next, creating several different orders in which the videos can be consumed,” she added.

“I enjoy the idea that people can finish at different endings, having varying experiences of the exhibition, reliant on the decisions they've made.

“I want people to be a bit more actively involved in the show and I hope it will force them to think about their role within the work itself.”

Foreign Bodies was made possible after Skye won Warrington Museum's Open Exhibition in 2024 – becoming the youngest winner in the competition's history. At the time, she was just 17.

The new exhibition develops upon the themes of ‘Guttural' – Skye's award-winning video piece for the Open, and collects together work created over two years.

“I've also installed a piece that took up a huge portion of the early months of this year, in which I constantly documented my daily life,” Skye said.

“Between planning, finding props, performing, filming, editing, and curating each work, it's been a massive undertaking.

“These 10 pieces are the culmination of two years of work and Foreign Bodies would not have been possible without the help of my friends, tutors and curator.

“It's been an intense year finishing my foundation course at Priestley and developing my exhibition at the same time but I can't wait to see the result.

“I've only ever experienced single pieces up in galleries so seeing this much of my work up at once is definitely going to be a first. It's also a huge honour to deliver the first video and performance centred exhibition in Warrington Museum.”

Roger Jeffery, Producer at Warrington Museum and Art Gallery, added: “Skye has created an exceptional body of work, demonstrating a maturity and fearlessness far beyond her years.

“As a museum committed to supporting local artists and addressing relevant social issues, we are incredibly proud to host this exhibition.