What Still Grows ?
Curated by Rusha Cheng & Zhuoran Fu
SENSAFLARE CURATES - 'What Still Grows'
Curated by Rusha Cheng & Zhuoran Fu
Presented by Lewisham Arthouse
Lewisham Arthouse presents What Still Grows, a group exhibition bringing together fifteen artists working across painting, sculpture, textiles, moving image, scent and living materials, curated by Rusha Cheng and Zhuoran Fu, who work together as the independent curatorial collective Sensaflare.
Weeds return after they are cut. Scent lingers after its source disappears. Dyes fade, leaves dry, and living matter continues to change. The exhibition begins with these small forms of persistence and asks how bodies, plants and forms of knowledge endure within systems shaped by efficiency, standardisation and extraction.
Botanical classification, colonial infrastructure and urban management have long influenced how plants are named, circulated, cultivated and removed. Comparable systems of productivity also shape the rhythms through which bodies work, recover and adapt. Across the exhibition, these structures meet forms of plant knowledge carried through cultivation, food, scent, memory, craft and repeated acts of making.
Some works examine how classification and control determine visibility and survival. Others follow knowledge transmitted through families, local traditions and embodied practice. Materials change over time: dyes fade, scents disperse, leaves wither, moss grows, and surfaces continue to transform. These processes bring recovery, maintenance, adaptation and decay into the same field.
Across the gallery, questions recur in altered forms. Classification meets memory. Preservation carries traces of disappearance. Care unfolds through the time required to sustain living and changing materials. Bodies, plants and environments appear as interconnected sites where knowledge is preserved, altered and remade.
What do our bodies remember, and what continues to grow?
Through shared practices of care, What Still Grows traces what continues through repetition, adaptation, memory, maintenance and transmission. Each form of persistence carries the marks of the conditions through which it survives, while opening toward what may still emerge.
MEET THE ARTISTS : 17 September 2026
18:00 - 21:00 pm
DATES : 18 - 28 Sep 2026, Mon & Wed-Sun 12 pm - 6 pm
Featured artists:
Aristeidis Lappas (@aristeidislappas)
Erin Gallagher (@eegallagher_art)
Leena Nasser (@mnzlee)
Elysia Byrd (@elysiabyrd)
Weicheng Tang (@weichengtang98)
Deb Hoy (www.debhoy.com)
Yulin He (@ylinhoo)
Suwei Yu (@soo_365up)
Ella Khafaji (@ella.khafaji)
Lena Zinski (@lena_zinski)
Telle Yi Yang (@telleyang)
Anna Candlin (@susannacandlin)
Deborah Gardner (@_deborah.gardner)
Lucy Homer Jones (@lucyhomerjones)
Marta Pieregonczuk (@mpieregonczuk)
Please note that What Still Grows features unconventional materials and sensory experiences. For your comfort and safety, please be aware of the following:
Living Materials & Plants: The exhibition includes live plants, moss, soil, weeds, and dried leaves. Visitors with allergies to pollen, spores, or plant dust are advised to take necessary precautions.
Scent & Olfactory Art: Some artworks involve dispersed scents, natural extracts, or fragrances. Please be mindful if you are sensitive to strong smells or have fragrance-triggered asthma.
Private View Refreshments: Drinks and snacks served during the opening reception may contain common allergens (e.g., nuts, gluten, dairy). Please check with our staff before consuming.
Textiles & Dyes: Various textiles and naturally dyed materials are on display. For your safety and the preservation of the art, please refrain from touching the artworks unless explicitly invited to do so.
