Behind Manchester Open 2026

“I’m Daisy, a Manchester based collage artist. Currently my practice is consumed by food, my love for it and the love it inspires in other people. With each piece, I celebrate a single food or meal through bright and playful collage in an attempt to capture its identity. I find the process of collage absolutely joyous, and love using it to explore this idea. The result is always so tactile and lively, truly bringing a design to life. All of my work is collaged by hand using materials sourced from magazines, newspapers, takeaway menus and some of my own photography.

The piece on display in the Manchester Open was one of the first designs I created as part of this series. Beans on Toast is an absolutely iconic meal that resonates with the masses. It’s cheap, simple, nutritionally balanced and mighty tasty. No one is above a plate of steaming hot beans atop buttered toast, its comfort and flavour enduring and widespread. So what better way to honour this culinary king than with a silly collage praising its very being. Simple and to the point, just like its namesake.

It is an absolute delight for this piece to be a part of the Manchester Open at HOME, a Manchester institution. To be paired amongst some of the best creative talent in the area is an honour. I can only hope my humble plate of Beans on Toast is up to the challenge. Now I eagerly await the exhibition’s opening and the chance to see much wonderful art and the lovely artists behind the works."

“My practice explores my relationship with memory and family, through class dynamic and environment.

I begin with archival photographs from family albums which I recreate. Sometimes I recreate these images repeatedly; similar to the repetition and distortion of memory. My family’s history and present interests me greatly, our genealogy strongly embedded within Greater Manchester.

Therefore, my practice is rooted within working class town environments. Through photography, I document the disparity between changes and stagnation seen in areas like Oldham and Ashton. With location being so key to my work, it is very important for me to have the opportunity to exhibit at Manchester Open in 2026, and previously in 2024. I want to promote accessibility to those who do not feel represented in art and I believe that HOME shares a similar ethos.

In my painting practice, I attempt to create a dream like quality - something recognisable yet eerie, or distant. I really enjoy combining mediums and I am currently exploring how drawing and photography could translate onto materials like metal and ceramics, to change the tactility of an image.

I am excited to come and see how fellow Mancunians are working at the Manchester Open as well as bring my parents to a gallery, a place they don't often find themselves.

This year, I am exhibiting a painting that I made from an image of my Nana and me, in a park during my childhood. After losing my Nana last year, and having her there to celebrate my work in the Manchester Open in 2024, it feels particularly important that I can share this experience with her again, through my practice"