The works on display showcase the urgency and vitality in each artist’s work, starting from the human figure and spiralling out into landscape and abstraction. Sometimes referring directly to life-changing experiences - from brain injury to migration - the artists use drawing as an immediate form of expression: a way to connect with, locate themselves, speak to and mark the world around them.

Refined over more than a decade, the collective at Submit to Love Studios have developed a set of unique practices and interests, often working collaboratively.

Using mark-making to reimagine portraits from Autograph’s archival collection of photographs, Affiong Day continues her exploration of identity and freedom. She says of her work “In art I can find a use for my mistakes … Losing your abilities takes away your identity, but it also takes away ego.”

A long-term studio member, Sam Jevon has produced a striking and precise body of minutely detailed drawings. Often surreal, revealing and always playful, her illustrations beautifully capture different bodies - both human and animal - in balance. Sometimes floating and dislocated, but together, clustered in pairs, crowds and communities.

Mohammed Sharif describes his drawings as cartoons. Having initially spent a whole year in the studio observing his peers, Sharif’s work now explodes from the page, marked by signature bold colours trying to escape thick black outlines.

Cecil Waldron uses felt pens to render saturated cityscapes and natural forms. This marks both the page of his drawings and his life story. Waldron was born in Guyana in 1938, worked in a studio printing and developing photographs before moving to the UK, aged 20 and looking for adventure. Arriving as stowaway on a boat at the docks in Liverpool, he made his way to London and became a tailor. His history is reflected in the close attention paid to dress, pattern and intricate composition in his drawings.

This pop-up exhibition forms part of EXPLORERS, a 3-year programme informed and led by neurodiverse communities, placing them at the heart of social, civic and cultural activity.