Crossing Into Elsewhere

Debut Solo Exhibition at Seventh Circle by Hannah Pugh

Exhibition Runs: 14 April – 29 April

Private View: Friday 17 April, 6–8 pm - RSVP

There are artists who paint what they see, some paint what they feel and then there are artists who casually open portals to other realms. Hannah Pugh belongs firmly to the latter. Hannah hands you a cosmic boarding pass and says,“We’re going somewhere else.”

All Is Not Lost - Crossing Into Elsewhere is Hannah’s debut solo exhibition at Seventh Circle Gallery in Digbeth, Birmingham, a potent, atmospheric collection that invites you to pause, lean in, and cross the threshold into somewhere just beyond the edges of the known world.

These works don’t simply depict landscapes; they behave like portals. Once you start to take in Hannah’s work, you feel it, that little tug as they start to whisper and show you the way around the painting and then into the tiny doorways, Shadowed horizons, jewel‑toned depths, glimmers of starlight, fragments of memory, each painting feels like a place you’ve almost remembered, or a dream you’re still half inside and embraces the unpredictability of mixed‑media painting.

Hannah’s practice is rooted in a lifelong fascination with leaving and staying, with the tension between wanting to lose oneself and wanting to be found. Her paintings hold that contradiction tenderly: the pull of escape, the ache of return, the shimmer of Elsewhere calling from just out of reach.

“In a world of diminishing mystery, the unknown persists.” — Jhumpa Lahiri

Hannah describes her process as “gardening, not architecture,” which is a poetic way of saying, she lets the work grow wild in the best possible way. Intuitive, layered, alive. Ink, bleach, acrylic, watercolour, gilded details: she mixes materials like someone who trusts her instincts.

Hannah’s work moves through deep, jewel‑like palettes that feel like they’ve been brewed in some celestial cauldron. Loose, fluid gestures cosy up next to intricate details, creating a tension that feels both intuitive and intentional. And woven through it all are these quiet symbols of starlight and earth, flight and stone, forming the dual language that underpins her practice. The whole thing has this ephemeral, alchemical vibe that is unmistakably hers.

We are thrilled to welcome contemporary artist Hannah Pugh as the newest artist represented by Seventh Circle. Her work expands the emotional and conceptual landscape of the gallery, quiet, potent, and charged with possibility. This exhibition marks the beginning of of an ongoing collaboration..

Private View - Friday 17th April - 6-8pm - RSVP

The Private View will be the first chance to experience the full collection in person, the textures, the shadows, the glimmers of gold, the sense of Elsewhere that can only be felt standing in front of the work and that the fantastical very much still exist. You also have the opportunity to meet the artists behind it all, Hannah Pugh.

Join us as we open the doorway and step into Elsewhere.