This autumn Firstsite has invited three emerging curators based in the east of England to explore contemporary identity through their own areas of research. In a unique group exhibition JMC Anderson, Charlie Bryan and Laurie Taylor Straiton bring together artists who question the complexities of gender, narrative and environment in relation to the individual self. We: You, Me investigates ideas about the construction of identity in today’s society.

Investigated through three themes, each curator presents a different approach to the subject of identity. JMC Anderson offers insight into the role of the artist, and the perception of what this should entail. Charlie Bryan contrasts natural and manmade environments to highlight art that challenges how we interpret the planet we live on. Laurie Taylor Straiton presents artists who comment on issues surrounding gender, questioning the superfluous characteristics assigned to men and women. Together, the exhibition asks us to consider the similarities and differences that make us who we are.

About the curators

JMC Anderson (b. 1994, Harrow) is an artist and curator based in Norwich. She studied at Norwich University Of The Arts obtaining a BA in Fine Art and MA in Curation. In 2017 Anderson curated Mind.Language.Matter at St Mary’s Works, Norwich and completed a curatorial internship at the Sainsbury Centre For Visual Arts. She co-designed the We Came Here To Conquer publication for the Norwich Castle Museum. Within her practice she investigates language as a piece of visual material in order to explore construction, meaning and exchange. jmcanderson.co.uk @jmc.anderson

Charlie Bryan (b. 1992, Cambridge) is a photographer and videographer based in Cambridge. Her work documents environments and explores space as a framework for our own existence. For her first curatorial role she is informed by her history of collaboration with a range of creatives and her open, experimental approach. charliebryan.co.uk @a.b.charlie.d.e

Laurie Taylor Straiton (b.1991, Glasgow) is a curator based in Colchester. She has an MA in Curating and Collections from Chelsea College of Art, London. Straiton has worked on numerous exhibitions held at Chelsea including, Speak, Memory; Night Chorus; and Jocelyn Herbert and Tony Harrison. For We: You, Me she is expanding on her own research which has led her to explore and deconstruct the notion of gender identity.

Image credits: “Little Girl Blue & Flower Boy” (2017) Ross Alexander Mason, “Drawing Stones II” (2017) Michael James Lewis, “Altered Environments” (2017) Charlie Bryan.