It’s Alright: my first solo exhibition, and the thought behind it
Where, what, who, why?!
This October, I’m opening my first solo exhibition, It’s Alright, at The Regency Town House in Hove. It’s the culmination of this year spent thinking, painting, and unpicking something most of us don’t talk about much: the strange, quirky, intrusive, or unwanted thoughts that pass through all our minds from time to time.
A warm welcome awaits you!
Where the idea came from
We tend to keep these thoughts to ourselves. A flicker of something dark, odd, or embarrassing crosses the mind, and the instinct is to push it away, or worse, to wonder what it says about us. But the more I researched and spoke to people while developing this body of work, the clearer it became: these thoughts are almost universal. They’re a normal part of being human, not a sign that something is wrong.
It’s Alright is my attempt to sit with that idea in paint. The title is the message: whatever passes through your mind, it’s alright. You are not alone in having it.
What people have shared with me
While developing this project, I asked people to share the kinds of thoughts they don’t usually say out loud. What struck me was how much they had in common, even though each person assumed theirs was unusual. Broadly, they seemed to fall into a few recognisable categories:
• Sudden, unwanted “what if” thoughts — a flash of imagining something going wrong, or doing something out of character, with no real intention behind it
• Intrusive doubts — did I lock the door, did I say the wrong thing, replaying a moment long after it’s passed
• Dark or inappropriate humour — a thought that feels shocking simply because it arrives at the wrong moment
• Superstitious or “magical” thinking — a passing sense that a thought alone could cause something to happen
None of these mean anything is wrong with the person having them. They’re simply part of how a busy mind works. Naming them, and seeing how widely shared they are, is part of what It’s Alright is trying to do.
A collaboration with meaning
Alongside the exhibition, I’ve been working with a wonderful local arts charity that uses community-based art projects to support people with mental health challenges and neurodivergence. During exhibition week, they’ll be running a collaborative community painting session inspired by the show’s themes. It felt important not just to make work about shared human experience, but to actually create a space where people could come together and make something themselves. I’m so grateful to them for bringing their expertise and care to this part of the project.
Visit the exhibition
It’s Alright runs 28th October – 1st November at The Regency Town House in Hove, open daily from 10am to 5pm.
• Private View — Friday 30th October, 6:30pm–8:30pm
• Community Art Session — Saturday 31st October, 11am–2pm
• Afternoon Tea, to celebrate the end of the week — Sunday 1st November, 3pm–5pm
More details, including how to RSVP, will follow closer to the time.
The Regency Town House itself feels like the right home for this show. It’s a Grade I listed building at 13 Brunswick Square, designed in the 1820s by architect Charles Busby as part of the grand Brunswick Town estate, and it’s currently being lovingly restored, room by room, by a small team of staff and volunteers. A building with its own quiet, layered history — much like the thoughts this exhibition is about.
I’d love to see you there!
Caroline