Jun 2022
Emerging artist Valentia Huxley has been commissioned by Severnside Community Rail Partnership to create a series of portraits for Filton Abbey Wood Station. These vibrant works celebrate individuals from under- represented backgrounds who have strived for progress and made a difference on the railways. The first four subjects were unveiled at a recent launch event, these being;
Alero Abbey, Area Manager at London Underground and SWIFT Board Member at Women in Rail.
Asquith Camile Xavier, the first non-white train guard at Euston railway station in London.
Wilston Samuel Jackson, Fireman and driver of The Mallard, Elizabethan and The Flying Scotsman and the first Black train driver in Britain.
Trudy Aarons who became one of Britain’s first black female train drivers.
A short film of the launch may be viewed here .
A further four portraits have been commissioned; the subjects will be announced during the summer of 2022.
Valentina’s previous work involved a city-wide exhibition with Rising Arts Agency who are a community of young creatives mobilising others for radical social, political and cultural change. During the launch event, Valentina also performed “More Than Metal” a new poem she has written about a train.
Valentia Huxley said “I have really enjoyed being involved with this project and interrupting a previously grey space with bright and colourful renditions of people whose presence in the train industry is deliberately omitted from mainstream ‘education’ to sustain systems of power. Art can be a conduit to question social structures, and I hope these portraits lead viewers to rethink narratives and/or feel affirmed if they identify with the people they are of.”
Severnside Community Rail Partnership’s Art Coordinator, Faye Keane said “The stunning portraits created by Valentina have not only brought some bright colourful work to the station but also given space to acknowledge people who have worked hard to make change, and those work are still pushing for better inclusion and representation on the railways. We see this as the beginning of a wider project, with more portraits to be added over the coming months.”
The project has been kindly supported by GWR, and Network Rail, with funding from Community Rail Network’s Small Grants Fund
More than Metal by Valentina Paz Huxley
Metal and oil,
I glide through your lands like blood in veins.
I am your commute,
Your escape,
Your peace,
Your sickness induced illusion
Of upholstered interiors
And sliding doors.
Static and motion,
I cradle, when you figure my schedule out.
I am your time machine on wheels,
Your frustration,
Your calm,
Your steampunk cot
Of destination announcements
And fold down trays.
Future and history,
I have a past people refuse to look at.
I am your service,
Your ease,
Your discomfort,
Your steel relic
Of discredited work
And exploited inventors.
Escape and destination,
I’m boarded to run or go home.
I am your period of nothing,
Your time to catch up,
Your filler,
Your surrender to bad signal
And window gazing.
I am your steed, your inconvenience,
Your upright nap, your trippy toilet trip
I am your train.
