About
Dig Me A Grave is an ambitious project that draws from Bowler’s lived experiences of transness, queerness, and disability, using these perspectives to reflect on universal themes of mortality and rest. The exhibition offers audiences spaces for introspection, solace, and empathy, creating an immersive experience through large sculptural works in plaster, latex, stone, and metal. Visitors are encouraged to touch, sit, and lie within the installation, creating a sensory and personal engagement with the work. The work examines how trans and disabled bodies navigate the world, often existing in spaces of waiting—whether for recognition, medical access, or societal acceptance. By reclaiming the imagery of graves as sites of rest rather than erasure, the exhibition offers a reflection on resilience, transformation, and visibility.
“In exploring burial sites as spaces for contemplation, I aim to open conversations about how we process depression, how we rest, and how we navigate living in the face of loss,” says artist Claye Bowler. “This work creates a space not only for those who share my personal experiences but also for a broader audience to find meaning and connection.”
The exhibition features a soundscape created in collaboration with The Silver Field influenced by traditional British folk songs that have historically engaged with themes of love, death, and grief. The interplay between sound and sculpture evokes the materiality of soil, the act of digging, and the transmission of oral history through time.
The exhibition will tour three venues across the UK, beginning at WIP’s Steamworks Gallery in London before traveling to Yorkshire Sculpture Park (Wakefield), and Auction House (Redruth, Cornwall).
Supported by the Jerwood New Work Fund (2023)
Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England (2024)
Bowler undertook research residencies undertaken as part of the development of this project at:
- Porthmeor Studios, St Ives, Cornwall (2024)
- Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield (2024)
- Jerwood Arts, Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange, Newlyn, Cornwall (2023)
