Tyreis talks about her lived experience of growing up in South London as a third generation young Caribbean woman, and how her practice explores community, healing and mental health through poetry and textiles. For Tyreis, art brings tangibility to otherwise unrealised thoughts, giving them a form that we can touch and feel. Textile becomes a universal language that can address the trauma experienced by black women who have historically had to repress their emotions as a survival tactic. Listen to her interview with Defne Oruc to find out more on the power of being vulnerable and why “It’s O.K. not to be O.K.”

00:08 “I’ve had the knack of this life biz - kinda”
Excerpt from "Dun Dunnah", 2020, AGM, Somerset House Studios.

02:20 “Community is very important.”
As a young artist from South London, how has your lived environment impacted your artistic practice?

03:30 “I and I, I am in I, you are in me.”
How do you see your installations as acts of world-building?

04:40 “It’s me but we are all as one.”
Is there a singular persona across your performances or do you see that consciousness changing?

06:15 “The world was going 1,000 miles per hour behind me and my tires were flat.”
Was there a specific breakthrough moment for you that necessitated the spoken word element in your practice? 

08:20 “As black women we have generationally inherited the act of suppressing our emotions.”
How did you come to conceive the capacity of textiles as a language and healing device for the trauma experienced by black women? 

15:45 “A person wearing a coat has the power to open and close the zip.”
How do you think through making?

19:50 “In the eyes of a system I was failing and in the eyes of a human I was living.”
Can you talk about why it's O.K. not to be O.K ?

27:02 “Kojey Radical is an amazing performer.”
Who are your fictional or real life allies in your art making

30:02 “As accessible as possible”
Where would you like your works to be seen?

33:35 “Just trying to make what I love”
How do you see your practice evolving?

Tyreis Holder (b.1999) is an artist, poet and visual storyteller of Jamaican/St.Vincent descent, born and raised in South London. She works across installation, textiles, performance, poetry, sculpture and sound to explore identity, lived experience, mental health and colonial spaces. She is currently a resident of Somerset House Studios and holds a BA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths University. Recent exhibitions and projects include AGM (Somerset House, 2020), Room to Room (Goldsmiths CCA, 2020), Working Progress (South London Gallery, 2019), Stop Making Sense (Deptford X, 2019) and Reflect Remember Reclaim Heal (ICA, 2019). 

Defne Oruc (b. 2000) is an artist and writer from Istanbul living and working in London. She is  currently studying a BA in Fine Art and History of Art at Goldsmiths University, and has previously had her writing published on 5Harfliler - an online feminist journal focusing on gender, politics, art and pop culture based in Istanbul.

Tyreis talks about her lived experience of growing up in South London as a third generation young Caribbean woman, and how her practice explores community, healing and mental health through poetry and textiles. For Tyreis, art brings tangibility to otherwise unrealised thoughts, giving them a form that we can touch and feel. Textile becomes a universal language that can address the trauma experienced by black women who have historically had to repress their emotions as a survival tactic. Listen to her interview with Defne Oruc to find out more on the power of being vulnerable and why “It’s O.K. not to be O.K.”

Tyreis Holder (b.1999) is an artist, poet and visual storyteller of Jamaican/St.Vincent descent, born and raised in South London. She works across installation, textiles, performance, poetry, sculpture and sound to explore identity, lived experience, mental health and colonial spaces. She is currently a resident of Somerset House Studios and holds a BA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths University. Recent exhibitions and projects include AGM (Somerset House, 2020), Room to Room (Goldsmiths CCA, 2020), Working Progress (South London Gallery, 2019), Stop Making Sense (Deptford X, 2019) and Reflect Remember Reclaim Heal (ICA, 2019). 

Defne Oruc (b. 2000) is an artist and writer from Istanbul living and working in London. She is  currently studying a BA in Fine Art and History of Art at Goldsmiths University, and has previously had her writing published on 5Harfliler - an online feminist journal focusing on gender, politics, art and pop culture based in Istanbul.

Tyreis talks about her lived experience of growing up in South London as a third generation young Caribbean woman, and how her practice explores community, healing and mental health through poetry and textiles. For Tyreis, art brings tangibility to otherwise unrealised thoughts, giving them a form that we can touch and feel. Textile becomes a universal language that can address the trauma experienced by black women who have historically had to repress their emotions as a survival tactic. Listen to her interview with Defne Oruc to find out more on the power of being vulnerable and why “It’s O.K. not to be O.K.”

Tyreis Holder (b.1999) is an artist, poet and visual storyteller of Jamaican/St.Vincent descent, born and raised in South London. She works across installation, textiles, performance, poetry, sculpture and sound to explore identity, lived experience, mental health and colonial spaces. She is currently a resident of Somerset House Studios and holds a BA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths University. Recent exhibitions and projects include AGM (Somerset House, 2020), Room to Room (Goldsmiths CCA, 2020), Working Progress (South London Gallery, 2019), Stop Making Sense (Deptford X, 2019) and Reflect Remember Reclaim Heal (ICA, 2019). 

Defne Oruc (b. 2000) is an artist and writer from Istanbul living and working in London. She is  currently studying a BA in Fine Art and History of Art at Goldsmiths University, and has previously had her writing published on 5Harfliler - an online feminist journal focusing on gender, politics, art and pop culture based in Istanbul.