Khadija Cecile Niang presents a new body of work exploring the sea as a space where labour and leisure coexist. Drawing from a visit to N'Gor Island in Senegal, where she witnessed surfers and fishermen sharing fishing boats to reach the waves, Niang is curious about how coastal communities’ relationship to the sea shapes their understanding of work, time, and rest.
Khadija Cecile Niang is a Senegalese-Norwegian artist. Her practice explores the interconnection between nature, her body and heritage. Her maternal ancestors were fishers, and this lineage has been passed down through oral tradition as a strong part of her identity. Growing up with this coastal connection, she has always found herself drawn to the rhythms of natural bodies of water. Surfing and swimming are central to her personal life and artistic practice, embodying a collaboration where she learns to listen to the waves and currents, build connections and foster empathy. She extends this collaborative approach to the materials she works with, letting intuition guide her while allowing materials their agency—finding that delicate balance between intention and surrender.
For this exhibition, Niang interviewed relatives, friends, fishers and surfers, exploring the sensations embodied when approaching the sea through different intentions; seeking sustenance versus play.
Niang has selected works from The Ingram Collection to sit alongside her own, engaging with the history of painting the sea in Britain and interrogating how a life shaped by the sea might, in turn, shape one's relationship to the world.
The Ingram Prize
Now celebrating its tenth anniversary, The Ingram Prize continues its mission to champion emerging artists from across the United Kingdom. Established in 2016 to support art school graduates at a critical early stage, the prize has become a significant platform for new talent, with previous winners exhibiting nationally and internationally.
This anniversary exhibition showcases new and recent work by one of the 2025 prize winners and offers a dynamic snapshot of the ideas, materials, and concerns shaping contemporary practice today. Whether exploring identity, storytelling, landscape, or experimentation with form, the selected artist reflects the energy and diversity that have defined the prize over its first decade.
The annual solo show at Lightbox Gallery reaffirms The Ingram Collection’s longstanding commitment to supporting the next generation of British artists.
