Christine Hazell: Different Faces

15 Jul-18 Oct 2026

Overview

The first-ever institutional exhibition of drawings by artist Christine Hazell (b.1937. Lives and works in York).

Hazell, who is 89, began drawing a year ago after her daughter encouraged her to sketch from family photographs, initially as a pastime that might ultimately aid with the artist's progressive memory loss. Drawing quickly became a prolific daily practice, with Hazell producing over 200 drawings within the first six months. 

Hazell’s practice is supported and encouraged by her immediate family, who contribute to the ever-growing collection of photographs that the artist reinterprets. As a result, artists and celebrities including James Dean, Kate Middleton and Henry Moore have also been given “different faces”, as Hazell describes it, which feature alongside her ongoing portraits of friends, family and neighbours. Her son Matthew Higgs (Director, White Columns, New York) has been sharing Hazell’s drawings on Instagram over the past year, where they have found a wide and enthusiastic audience. 

Different Faces is curated by Matthew Higgs and architect Gaby Higgs, Hazell’s children. For this exhibition, Hazell has depicted artists, musicians, curators, and critics, including members of Studio Voltaire’s community from across its 32-year history, such as artists Nairy Baghramian and Jeremy Deller and Studio Voltaire’s Director Joe Scotland. Working from photographs and using coloured pencils, Hazell translates the photographic images into uncanny drawings on paper. Displayed within recycled vintage frames sourced in her native Yorkshire, Hazell's drawings both exaggerate and amplify details from the original references: eyebrows extend beyond the edges of a face, curly hair merges into a pattern on a wall and a tie is reimagined as a pair of legs.

The resulting body of work celebrates Hazell’s highly idiosyncratic practice in its first year while also tracing the rich history of Studio Voltaire’s artistic community.