Meet the artists from our graduates support programmes: Keziah Thomas-Mellor

For this series, Maariya Daud, who undertook a placement at Castlefield Gallery, interviewed the artists from our graduates support programmes. Today we are meeting Keziah Thomas-Mellor.

Keziah is one of the 2023-24 Manchester School of Art Castlefield Gallery Graduate Mentees. With a focus on climate change, and the difference between cities and green landscape, her work creates escapism and respite in a time of the ‘chaos of late capitalism’. She explores themes such as class, gender, and landscape. 

Who have you been mentored by to date; what do you like about them?

Since graduating I have had the opportunity to get mentored by a variety of speakers and artists through events and workshops Castlefield Gallery has organised for us. But also, by Jade De Montserrat, a research led artist engaging with performance drawing, which mirrors my practice. Jade’s support has been invaluable. We are each offered four sessions with our paired artist mentors. Jade has coaxed me into new avenues of questioning and research, alongside strengthening my professional practice, supporting me to identify and collate various artists, institutions and open calls that my work and I connect with. Jade is incredibly supportive and has helped my understanding and confidence talking about my artwork, approaching institutions and applying for opportunities.

Who (or what) has been the biggest influence on your art to date – and its style?

Since my work grows from personal experiences navigating, walking or climbing across our landscape, some of the biggest influences on my practice stems from my research reflecting upon the connections and history imbued into the land. Books like Feral by George Monbiot or The Living Mountain by Nan Shepard have deeply resonated with myself and my work. Their ability to reflect upon personal experiences within our landscape, revealing the intersectionality of capitalism, colonialism and climate change, completely breaks down our idea of the ‘green and pleasant’ land of the British landscape. On top of this, the central characteristic within my work is my repetitive mark-making, which has spurred me on to research Agnes Martin and the development of female artists within Abstract Expressionism. I was recommended the book by Griselda Pollock, Killing men and Dying women from a 1-2-1 with Gass at Castlefield Gallery which was extremely insightful.

What is your most successful work of yours to date? Was there a long process behind it, a thought process perhaps?

I think it can be quite challenging to measure the ‘success’ of an artwork. Some of my pieces that I am most proud of are Aberech Sands Train Bridge (2024), one of my degree show pieces, and Spirals (2025), which I recently performed at Manchester Art Gallery. Both works engage in performance drawing, though Aberech Sands Train Bridge was almost my first. This work was developed over a longer period unlike Spirals, which is a lot more intuitive. Climbing and walking in nature has been my passion and escape. I wanted to share that moment of connection, risk, and vulnerability through an ephemeral live performance drawing, rebelling against the pressures of our neoliberal society. As Aberech Sands Train Bridge is a 2-hour durational performance (admits the aches and pains in my body after) there is a physical and emotional satisfaction that comes on its completion. Verging on a finale, an acute awareness of fulfilling presence.