In choosing the artists and artworks selected for my curated collection I was interested in surveying the practices of artists that were speaking to contemporary concerns while reflecting a multiplicity of approaches. There is so much that good art can do and does. In selecting these works I was looking for: expressions of joy, curiosity, personal reflections, politics, playfulness and provocations. It’s not easy being an artist, there are huge barriers, deterrents and negative forces that can impose on your ability to translate ideas and material into something that exists and something that can be experienced. The process of making work can feel like a conjuring or a summing of powerful forces. In each of the artists I selected, I sensed these powerful forces, emerging from sustained practices, research and engagements with particular themes and materials. As an artist, I’m interested in art as a process or a tool that enables me to explore and learn. The artworks I’ve selected have transported me to new worlds, journeying from a depiction of queer joy, to the pleasure and politics of afro hair and through folk traditions of plough play and much more.