Artist Talk: Saturday 1st August, 11.30–12.30pm – Free and all welcome. Artist Valerie Potter will be
in-conversation with Gallerist Jennifer Gilbert.
Sunflowers and Quicksand: Fishing for the Trickster
A Solo exhibition from Valerie Potter
Launch date: Saturday 1 August 3-5:30pm
Exhibition runs: 30 July – 18 August 2026
Part of Margate Pride Art Map
‘The trickster is the rather mercurial force that makes me create, the sunflowers are when
the trickster works with me and the quicksand is when he is being capricious and leading me
down the garden path’
The inspiration for a solo exhibition by local self-taught artist Valerie Potter showcasing
works in stitch, drawing and painting, ranging from the eighties to the present day. With
pieces revealing fantastical landscapes and microscopic worlds fuelled by the artist’s love of
botany; tying together symbols of birth, death and love with non-religious iconography.
Prepare to see Vikings frolicking in space, a pig man growing wings, and two kidneys having
a good time ... this exhibition is one not to be missed, delving into the remarkable,
unconventional mind of Valerie Potter.
Biography
Although always creative, Potter did not consider herself an art-maker. She was born in Kent
in 1954, but spent her formative years in Nigeria and Jamaica, moving around due to her
father’s work commitments as a teacher and educator. Her love of pattern and vibrant
colours stems from the vast array of fruit, vegetation, and fabrics she observed whilst living
in these countries. At 19, Potter enrolled at art school, but found it restrictive and left,
continuing her drawing at home. When she caught sight of a stranger, cross-stitching on a
local train platform, she considered whether fabric might give her more freedom and
portability. It was a moment of realisation; and it led the artist to explore a new and exciting
format.
A fortuitous find in a bookshop of esteemed art historian Roger Cardinal’s 1972 Outsider Art
book inspired her to contact him and share some of her drawings. He was so impressed by
her work that he introduced her to a collector and a gallerist and organised her first
exhibition. The solo show – which was presented in 1985 at the University of Kent – marked
the start of an artistic career that has seen Potter’s drawings, paintings and embroideries
exhibited at numerous galleries including the Irish Museum of Modern Art (Dublin, UK),
Whitechapel Gallery (London, UK), Whitworth Museum (Manchester, UK), Tate Britain
(London, UK), and Carl Freedman Gallery (Margate, UK).
Potter continues to live and work in Margate, where she also writes poetry and knits. She is
represented by the Jennifer Lauren Gallery, Manchester.
“I don’t know what I would have been if it hadn’t been for creativity.”