Curation of 'Love, Told from the Heart and Through the Lens' By Ebony Wright
Back in May 2024, we (Left Bank) first welcomed Ebony Helena Wright to Left Bank as part of Culture Club, launching their debut zine Wild. What started as a one-off collaboration quickly grew into something really special. Over the months that followed, Ebony returned to launch their second zine, Demolition, and I had the chance to spend more time with them, getting to know both them and their work on a deeper level. I became (and still am!) a huge fan.
When we started chatting about the third and final zine launch, I knew we had an opportunity to do something more ambitious—something that celebrated the full arc of the trilogy. Rather than a standard launch, I invited Ebony to explore the idea of turning this final chapter into a full exhibition. One that placed all three zines—Demolition, Wild, and Habitat—in conversation with each other, and offered space for people to fully immerse themselves in the journey of heartbreak, growth, and love they’ve documented so beautifully.
Working with Ebony to curate Love: Told from the heart and through the lens has been an absolute joy. They trusted me to lead on the exhibition planning and gave me creative freedom to propose more experimental ways of displaying the work—ways that honoured the spirit of the zines without pushing us over budget. We both knew early on that the work didn’t belong in traditional frames. These zines are tactile, honest, sometimes messy—personal. We wanted to keep that same feeling in the space itself.
The final exhibition feels like a fitting close to the trilogy. Demolition is raw and reflective, pairing unsent letters and voice notes with haunting 35mm shots of Leeds buildings mid-collapse—a visual and emotional parallel to heartbreak and rebuilding. Wild shifts the tone, finding resilience in urban nature and reminding us that vulnerability can be powerful. And Habitat, Ebony’s latest and final zine, brings it all home with a warm, deeply affirming celebration of platonic, female-based love. It’s a digital zine, and a totally different energy from the first two—but it completes the story in a way that feels honest and hopeful.
Ebony’s work speaks straight to the heart. It’s deeply personal, but somehow universal at the same time—like they’re telling your story while telling their own. Curating this show with them has reminded me how personal and reflective art can be when it comes from a place of truth. Being able to give these works the platform they deserve has been an honour.
