Finn Dobson West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Finn Dobson (b.1992) is a Leeds-based self-taught visual artist and poet. Working with textiles and mixed media, they address themes of queer, trans, disabled embodiment, whilst noticing the nuances and interconnectedness of experiences. Community involvement and research, and repurposing found and inherited materials, is integral to their practice.
Finn Dobson (b.1992) is a self-taught visual artist and poet based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. Their work addresses themes of queer, trans, disabled embodiment, while noticing the nuances and interconnectedness of experiences. They enjoy using a mixture of methods and mediums with a focus on textiles, including inherited, found, and ‘waste’ materials. Community involvement and research - particularly into traditional craft and social history - is integral to their practice.
Inspired by the use of textiles within activism (such as union banners and the AIDS quilt), as well as by their love of language, their work often features text focused on marginalisation and solidarity; otherness and belonging. Finn facilitates workshops that foster community, explore creative wellbeing, and create safe environments for people to experiment with making.
Finn is interested in the stories we tell, and what this reflects about our place within wider systems of power and relation - to each other and the world around us. Their love of nature is informed by personal experiences of disability. Natural spaces act as a balm, and a place to unmask, whilst chronic illness has often limited their ability to interact with it. This has led them to appreciate the way that ecosystems work together in similar ways to care networks. They are currently experimenting with different ways of incorporating the inspiration they find in nature - and how this mirrors and reflects their own life experiences - into their artistic practice.
Artwork
Untitled I (Visual Poetry), Mosaic crochet, 2026, 195
Kafka's Sick Bed , Natural dyeing, embroidery, applique, fusing, distressing, hand painting, 2025, £385
New Reach, Fabric painting, ecoprinting, embroidery., 2025, £70
Textures of Pain II, Rust dyeing, embroidery, woodwork, 2025, £225
Textures of Pain I, Fabric painting, applique, embroidery, 2025, £225
Derma (26th-29th Aug), Embroidery, 2025, £80
Home, Filet crochet, 2025, NFS
Interrupted Desire Lines, Embroidery, 2024, £75
Mantra for Unmasking, Intarsia Crochet, 2024, £225
Fragile, Embroidery, 2023, £70
Drugged Up, Embroidery, 2022, £35
Care, Embroidery, 2023, £75
Thorn in the Flesh, Sunprinting & embroidery, 2022, £55
All the Things You Said, Embroidery, 2022, £75
Projects and exhibitions
| Details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Metamorphosis Textile Competition11/03/2026 — 31/05/2026 Textile competition and exhibition on the theme of 'Metamorphosis' |
Farfield Mill, Sedbergh | Details |
|
Fables exhibition09/01/2026 — 30/01/2026 A culmination of the 'Resilient Roots' artist development programme with Artists Professional Support (previously Aire Place Studios) |
The Mill Gallery, Leeds | Details |
|
Pride & Protest exhibition15/08/2025 — 05/09/2025 |
The Mill Gallery, Leeds | Details |
|
Leeds Summer Group Show03/07/2025 — 23/07/2025 This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Leeds Summer Group Show, an open-call exhibition founded in 2015. What began as a small independent exhibition has grown into a much-anticipated annual showcase, providing a platform for emerging and established artists alike. |
Leeds Playhouse, Leeds | Details |
Pose exhibition13/02/2025 — 23/02/2025 As Queer individuals navigate public and private spaces, what does it mean to ‘Pose’ in ways that assert, conceal, or transform visibility? How can posing become a means of resisting marginalisation? In a world where Queer identities often exist at the complex intersections of visibility, societal expectations, and personal validation,... [Read more] |
Undercroft Gallery, Norwich | Details | |
NSUN Virtual Exhibition01/10/2024 — 31/12/2024 Bringing together artwork by people with lived experience of mental ill-health, distress, or trauma in the UK. https://www.nsun.org.uk/our-members/annual-members-event-agm/nsun-member-creative-exhibition-2024/ |
Online | Details | |
Trans Pride exhibition14/07/2024 — 20/07/2024 |
The Actors, Brighton | Details |