top of page

​​Marie-Louise Plum, b.1981 | Interdisciplinary artist, writer and mudlark. I work with museums, arts organisations and institutions including Royal Museums Greenwich, Thames Festival Trust, London's Roman Amphitheatre, St. Paul's Cathedral, London Museum, National Gallery, Royal College of Art and Queen Mary University.

 

As an artist, writer, and mudlark, I look to the past to make sense of the present, and, possibly, predict the future.
 

My artistic practice is so intertwined with my activities as a river-scavenging mudlark, that it is impossible to treat them as separate entities. One informs the other, and writing tumbles with both.

 

I'm an all-rounder; I paint, print, collage and draw, I write, make videos and collect. I enjoy blurring the boundaries between traditional and contemporary methods to create provocative works exploring what it is to be human, searching for identity and a sense of place and belonging.

 

Through images and words I invite audiences to engage with a world they might be familiar with, but are yet to identify. Most importantly, I am asking the viewer to see, think, and consider - what looks different here? What's being said, silently?

 

I am particularly interested in signs, symbols and subconscious narratives - especially within the realm of dreams and reality. My works often incorporates found items, digital images and field recordings.

 

Most of my projects develop into long term, conceptual bodies of work, taking an initial idea across disciplines, to find resolution in an organic way through process.

Selected Exhibitions

2021 - 2025

Hands on History

Producing and curating exhibitions, events, walks and talks in the heritage and arts sector for national museums and institutions including London Museum, National Maritime Museum, Cutty Sark/Royal Museums Greenwich, City of London Livery Guilds, Emery Walker House, London's Roman Amphitheatre.

​

2020

#VirtualVisions / William Blake Festival

www.blakefest.co.uk

​

2019

Foragers of the Foreshore (as Old Father Thames)

Group exhibition, curated by Florence Evans

OXO Barge House London, UK

 

2018

Moore Plum - Paintings, Music & Things

Stash Gallery London, UK

 

Imitation Solero

Group exhibition, curated by Broken Grey Wires

The Soup Kitchen Manchester, UK

 

2016

Silver Linings

Group exhibition, curated by The Unseen Emporium/Victoria Tischler

The Koppel Project, London, UK

 

One Bare Foot Square

Group exhibition, curated by Uncooked Culture

Van Den Geest Hermitage Museum Amsterdam, The Netherlands

 

What Goes On In the Mind (as Mental Spaghetti)

Mental Spaghetti/AIMS group exhibition

Town Hall Gallery & Museum Oxford, UK

 

The Mind Machine (as Mental Spaghetti)

Group exhibition

Menier Gallery London, UK

​

2012 - 14

Once Upon Again (as Pack of Wolves Collective)

New Folk Visionaries (as Pack of Wolves Collective)

Group exhibitions

Winns Gallery London Milkwood Gallery Cardiff, UK

 

2011

H A P P Y L A N D

Postcards Festival

Jacksons Lane Theatre, London, UK

 

2010

Space Made Live

Group exhibition curated by Small Media Large for West End Festival

The ArtHouse Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

Published Work (images and words)

2025

Short Story - TBA

Now the Author of the Glazed Water (poetry)

​

Previously:

The Idler

Superpresent (moving prose poem)

The Caterpillar Magazine with John Hegley Issue 7

Thrill Murray Colouring Book for Belly Kids

Forest Fringe Newspaper for Forest Fringe

Big Team Scribble Colouring Book for The Scribble Project

Le Monstre (short story)

Selected Performances

2017

Suburban English Magick 

Durational live painting, poetry and audio installation

CCCA, Coventry

 

2015-2016

Roving Diagnostic Unit (as Mental Spaghetti)

Performance tour with Bobby Baker and Daily Life Ltd

Wellcome Collection, Shuffle Festival and William Morris Gallery, London, UK

 

2014

The Lights Are On

Durational live painting, poetry and audio installation

Fox Court, London, UK

 

2014

Running With Wolves (as Pack of Wolves Collective)

Masked performance tour Pack of Wolves

Stockholm Fringe Festival

 

2010

Mask!

Masked performances, site specific installations, UK tour

The Old Police Station, Deptford, London

Forest Fringe, Edinburgh

The Arthouse, Glasgow

Screenshot 2021-10-23 at 19.08.37.jpg

Selected Teaching & Public Engagement

2021 - 2025

Artist Educator and Speaker

Working in heritage and arts sector, various venues including Cutty Sark, National Maritime Museum, St. Paul's Cathedral.

​

2021

Greenwich in 50 Objects

Mudlarking and social history seminar

National Maritime Museum London, UK

 

2020

Freedom to Express

Series of workshops aimed at SEND children

Free Space Project London, UK

 

2018

'Fr-iction'

Guest lecturer, Visual Comms PHD group

Royal College of Art London, UK

 

Guest lecturer, Creative Arts & Mental Health

Queen Mary University London, UK

​

2016

Diagnostic Portraiture

Drawing workshop for Daily Life Ltd

Vestry House Museum London, UK

 

Mental Fight Club

Panel guest, ReThink Psychiatry

The Dragon Café London, UK

​

2014

39 Hoe Street

Drawing workshops for

The Big Draw London, UK

 

2013

Mental Health in the Media

Guest Lecturer, Faculty of Media and Communication

Bournemouth University

 

2010

Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival

Illustration workshop

Glasgow, UK

Producer and Curator

2021 - 2025

Hands on History

Mudlarking Exhibitions and Events at St. Paul's Cathedral, City of London Livery Guilds, London Museum, National Maritime Museum, Cutty Sark, London's Roman Amphitheatre, Guildhall, Emery Walker House.

 

2017

Scratch The Surface: Dialogue (as Mental Spaghetti)

Arts Festival Curated by Collective//Pod, co-curating/producing London elements of this Coventry-based arts festival.

Herbert Gallery, CCCA, Fargo Village Coventry, UK

​

Inside Out : Outside In

Exhibition of work from Medium Secure Unit residents

The Dragon Café London, UK

Press

I frequently contribute mudlark related content to magazines, tv and radio, as a consultant, talking head, writer and featured artist, including BBC Radio, NBC, ITV, The Telegraph, Times, Daily Mirror, The Idler, London Live, Beachcombing Magazine

The Seacher.

​​

As a producer, curator and artist

​

Painting of the Month | Chris Tosic/ Harry Pye, Le Document

 

Interview with Marie-Louise Plum | Juliana Vannucchi

Obras De Arte

 

'Creating Happy': About Mental Spaghetti | Laura Barton

The Guardian

 

The Mind Machine, exhibition Review | Judith McNicol, Raw Vision

 

The Mind Machine, exhibition Review | Colin Hambrook, DAO

​

AIMS and Mental Spaghetti | Deborah Caulfield, DAO

 

What Goes On In the Mind, exhibition Preview | Oxford Mail

 

What Goes On In the Mind, exhibition Review | The Oxford Times

© marielouiseplum.com 2022

© 2022 - 2025 Marie-Louise Plum

bottom of page