Thursday’s Child – The Roots of Wonder by Jennie McCall

From Childhood to Creative Practice: Symbols and Stories Reimagined.

New Exhibition: Thursday’s Child – The Roots of Wonder by Jennie McCall 

Exhibitions dates: 30 August 2025 – 4 October 2025

Exhibition Opening 7:30pm, Friday 29 August 2025, hospitality provided

Venue: Cupola Contemporary Art, 178a Middlewood Road, Sheffield S6 1TD

Cupola Contemporary Art presents Thursday’s Child – The Roots of Wonder, a captivating exhibition by artist Jennie McCall, exploring how childhood experiences continue to shape her creative practice. The show coincides with the release of her memoir, Thursday’s Child – A Memoir, in which McCall reflects on her father’s suicide, being raised by a single parent, and the formative experiences that continue to echo through the symbolism of her art.

Visitors will experience the full breadth of her work, from ceramics and sculptures—hearts, nests, busts, large plates, and whales—to posters, an audio collage of interviews and spoken word, and fragments of songs from her past, creating a rich dialogue between her earliest influences and her work today.

Bringing together sculpture, ceramics, drawings, and elements of her personal history, the
exhibition explores how childhood experiences continue to shape McCall’s creative practice.
Symbols first encountered in her earliest years re-emerge six decades later, weaving memory,
imagination, and resilience into a dialogue between past and present.

The exhibition coincides with the publication of McCall’s new book, Thursday’s Child – A Memoir,
in which she reflects on the roots of her creativity and the family history that shaped her
imagination. The book examines the impact of her father’s suicide—kept secret throughout her
childhood—and the challenges her mother faced raising her alone in the 1950s and 60s. Interwoven
with these reflections are examples of her earliest drawings, showing how fantasy, folklore, and the
resilience born of silence and loss continue to inform the symbols and stories that underpin her
work today.

She draws vivid observations from her childhood, from wildflowers pushing through cracks in
pavements to butterflies shimmering in sunlight, blending these moments of wonder with the
challenges of isolation and social stigma.
Drawing became a way to process emotions, to explore fears and aspirations I could not yet put into
words.

McCall’s work often incorporates motifs from her personal history, such as whales, reflecting
experiences ranging from her activism in Greenpeace and the Save the Whales campaign to
recurring symbols in her sculptures today.

Thursday’s Child – The Roots of Wonder will showcase the full breadth of McCall’s practice,
offering a rich and immersive experience. The exhibition will feature a range of Jennie’s ceramics
and sculptures, from hearts, nests, and busts to large plates and whales, alongside posters made
from pages of her book, an audio collage of interviews and spoken word, and fragments of songs
from her past.