Sebastian Rowlands presents their first solo show ‘AH: After Hysterectomy’, at Colonnade House. Showcasing new works made in response to their gender-affirming surgery last year, this exhibition presents a ritual performance as an interactive, multi-sensory installation. This is the first time this work is being shown publicly.
AH: After Hysterectomy documents a ritual performed on the first new moon after Sebastian’s hysterectomy, in which they wore a ritual ‘dress’ stitched with 422 marks for every new moon that marked their life. Five white marks recorded their birth, first period, starting testosterone, top surgery, and their hysterectomy. Submerging into the sea at sunrise, the water washed all away to leave only remnant marks. This was a cleansing. A rebirth. A self-made ritual to mark a turning point in their gender journey.
The installation offers a glimpse into the emotional state of gender euphoria. Audiences are invited to touch, smell, listen, and see. Transformed objects from the ritual hold traces left behind by things which no longer exist – the impression of a teabag drunk after submersion, a fishing fly from the fisherman who held witness. The ‘dress’ as a structure of remaining stitches. A video recording of the performance plays hidden being a pinhole. A cocooning soundscape echoes the waves as salt and samphire scent fills the room.
Ceramic sculptures weave into this installation as additional responses to Sebastian’s hysterectomy. Both sinuous and fractures, dripping and delicate, they nod to the complex bodily and sensual transformations which blossomed in recovery. The intersections between tentative physical healing and the limitless joy of being called into a body which finally feels like home, and how desire filled up the spaces between.
About Sebastian Rowlands
Sebastian Rowlands is a non-binary artist based in Brighton. They are a final year Fine Art BA student and were featured on Channel 4’s 2022 life drawing series ‘Drawers Off!’ They have exhibited at the Royal Society of British Artists (2025), and numerous queer and feminist shows including Never Made for Us (2025), Swamp Witches (2025), Textile Junction (2024), STOGGAF Queer Art Collective (2024) and the Socially Engaged Art Salon (2024). Their work has appeared in print, including the inaugural 2024 issue of The Anti-Misogyny Club feminist journal. Sebastian is an advisory group member to Charleston and runs a community quilting project exploring queer neurodiversity in Brighton.
Sebastian’s practice investigates nuances of the trans experience as autobiographical and engages critically with political and cultural framings of gender non-conforming queerness. Through sculptural textiles, metalwork, installation, ceramics, and mixed media they employ haptic, contrasting materials to communicate abstract experiences of non-binary, neurodiverse gender. This is driven by their interest in non-literal explorations of what it means to be transgender. As well as connecting with transgender and other LGBT+ audiences through the queer gaze and building awareness amongst non-transgender audiences.
Core themes running through their work include ‘genderfull’ expression – one which combines feminine and masculine in their fullness rather than their absence in ‘genderless’ androgyny. Sebastian engages with the tensions between authentic expression and the rising backlash against gender non-conformity. They are increasingly exploring the transformative power that creating and representing transgender joy can have. To lessen the impact of negative voices as well as being vital for community healing. Sebastian seeks to contribute to this through community-based practices which connect and create space to celebrate queerness and bring these issues into public discourse. Alongside reflecting on their personal ongoing journey with gender.
Instagram: @abigabfab
Tuesday – Sunday // 10.00 – 17.00