Colossal · Creativity & design

Artist Harriet Mena Hill Captures Aylesbury Estate Community Through Art

Harriet Mena Hill's art series, "Soft Concrete," reinterprets the Aylesbury Estate in South East London, a large public housing complex undergoing demolition and regeneration.

The Aylesbury Estate, once home to 11,000 residents, was slated for demolition in 2005 due to struggles with vandalism and violence. Hill's textile portraits, created from dyed wool, depict the estate's environment, aiming to shift its media portrayal from violent and hopeless to a place of community and life. These pieces highlight domestic details, appearing photographic from a distance but revealing wool texture upon closer inspection.

As demolition began in 2020, Hill collected concrete fragments from the site, responding to residents displaced during lockdown. This initiative, "The Aylesbury Fragments," features paintings on these concrete remnants, capturing intimate views of hallways and windows within the partially demolished buildings. The regeneration process, started in 2013, is less than half complete.

Hill lives with the concrete pieces for extended periods before painting, allowing her to understand their form. She plans to continue this series as long as buildings remain under construction, creating tributes to the former residents. Hill has upcoming exhibitions scheduled across the UK through 2027.

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