Azezia Edwards on creating new spaces for emerging artists

For Azezia, the idea of an exhibition as more than simply a place to display artwork began to take shape while she was a student at Lady Margaret Hall.

During her Fine Art degree at the Ruskin School of Art, Azezia co-founded Adaptations, an exhibition in the LMH Chapel which brought together Ruskin students and the wider College community. The exhibition has since become an annual occasion at LMH.

Azezia was supported in developing the exhibition by her tutor, Lee Triming, and recalls the encouragement she received from the College as an important part of the experience.

Now, after graduating, Azezia is developing those ideas further through ACE IMMERSION, a new platform in London designed to give emerging artists opportunities to exhibit their work, meet other creatives and reach new audiences.

“Having the ability to share your work with others is one of the most rewarding parts of being an artist,” Azezia said. “I also believe that how you present your work, and who you choose to share it with, can be a continuation of the creative process itself.”

ACE IMMERSION will bring visual art together with music, live performance and other forms of creative expression. Rather than treating these as separate disciplines, Azezia wants to explore what happens when they occupy the same space, while still giving audiences the opportunity to spend time with and connect with the artwork.

Her experience with Adaptations helped shape that approach. As one of relatively few Fine Art students at LMH, Azezia remembers feeling that artists could sometimes “go under the radar”. Creating the exhibition offered an opportunity to make their work more visible within College.

“The success of the Adaptations exhibition demonstrated that the artist is not the only one looking for opportunities to engage,” she says. “There are also audiences who are genuinely excited to discover new work and connect with the artists behind it.”

The enthusiasm surrounding the exhibition also encouraged her to think beyond conventional gallery spaces.

“Seeing the exhibition come together and the response it received made me realise how much potential there was in creating spaces for artists to present their work outside of more conventional exhibition settings,” Azezia says. “That experience gave me confidence to take the idea further and eventually develop ACE IMMERSION.”

Developing a practice at LMH and the Ruskin

Azezia’s time at LMH and the Ruskin also shaped her own development as an artist. She had chosen LMH in part because of what she describes as its nurturing and inclusive atmosphere, and says the College gave her greater confidence in sharing work she had previously been hesitant to show.

Practical support mattered too. An LMH Academic Development Grant enabled her to buy her first sewing machine, allowing her to develop her use of textiles during her degree.

At the Ruskin, meanwhile, she was encouraged to experiment across techniques and materials. That freedom helped her create work that did not necessarily sit easily within a conventional “white cube” gallery environment, reinforcing her interest in how the setting around an artwork can affect the way it is experienced.

Support from her tutor Ian Kiaer was particularly significant as she prepared for her degree show. Her final degree-show work went on to win the Mansfield Ruddock Art Prize, with the prize money later contributing towards ACE IMMERSION.

“Those experiences encouraged me to think not only about the artwork itself, but also about how it can be encountered, presented and experienced,” she says.

Creating opportunities for emerging artists

ACE IMMERSION’s first event will bring together different forms of creative practice in a setting intended to feel welcoming and engaging rather than bound by the conventions of a traditional gallery.

For Azezia, however, the longer-term ambition extends beyond a single exhibition.

“I would like to continue creating opportunities for artists to exhibit their work, collaborate with other creatives and connect with new audiences,” she says. She also hopes to build links with emerging artistic talent at LMH in future and to explore different spaces, cities and approaches to bringing artists and audiences together.

Ultimately, she wants ACE IMMERSION to become somewhere artists can rely on as they begin to establish their practice.

“There are so many talented artists out there waiting for the opportunity to show what they can do,” she says. “I hope ACE IMMERSION can be part of creating those opportunities.”

The official opening night for ACE IMMERSION will take place from 5:00pm-9:00pm in London on Friday 23 October 2026, with tickets available now.