Cavaliero Finn Presents: Brain Tumour Book - Artist Leah Jensen’s Journey Through Cancer Diagnosis to Treatment: The Fitzrovia Chapel, Fitzroy Place, 2 Pearson Square, London
Forthcoming exhibition
Overview
Cavaliero Finn is proud to present, "Brain Tumour Book" a solo exhibition of artwork by Leah Jensen at the Fitzrovia Chapel in London from Friday 17th - 26th April 2026. The exhibition features artwork that chronicles the artist's journey through her recent brain tumour diagnosis and treatment.
Through intricate embroidered stitch-work and layered imagery, Leah transforms her vulnerability into visual poetry, offering visitors to the exhibition a window into her process of fear, resilience, acceptance, and hope. A series of artworks will be available for sale to raise funds for The Brain Tumour Charity, Leah's chosen charity.
Like Louise Bourgeois and Tracey Emin, Leah reveals her darkest and lightest moments through her work with humour, sensitivity and an inspiring philosophical approach.
In September 2020 Leah was unable to focus and lost her ability to speak at work. She was rushed to hospital where they discovered an aggressive brain tumour.
During her long stay in hospital, Leah faced her fears and started to reflect on life and death. Being largely bedridden, she was unable to work with clay, a medium for which she is critically acclaimed. Instead, she turned to embroidery, or drawing with thread, to help her process the complex emotions she was experiencing.
Every emotion, thought, memory and feeling has been captured in her deeply personal Brain Tumour Book that is still ongoing, as she deals with a potentially uncertain future. Each check-up and brain scan she goes for brings a sense of dread but Leah has such a calm sense of acceptance and positivity that shines through her work which articulates the ups and downs of her life-changing diagnosis.
Alongside the presentation of Leah’s Brain Tumour book will be a series of limited editions taken from the book to raise funds for the Brain Tumour Charity and raise awareness of how the illness affects those dealing with it. Leah is well aware of others going through the same situation and is sensitive to how her work will be viewed by them. She is clear she doesn’t want to invoke any fear from this show and intends to imbue honesty and hope in her work.
Also featuring in the exhibition will be a clay vessel that Leah created during what must have been the early onset of her tumour, at a time when she was having severe headaches. Normally, a specific renaissance painting is a starting point for the work but in this case, she has no memory of making this vessel and she has no idea of the source of inspiration for it. This ‘mystery pot’ stands as testament to a major change in her life and health. The mystery pot will be the starting point of the exhibition.
In addition to producing the book, the artist has also developed a series of quilts and an embroidered pillow both of which will be on display at the exhibition. There will also be a collection of embroidered handkerchiefs on show. Leah has collected these over her lifetime and they feature some of the artist’s one-off embroidered drawings and artworks. These will be available for sale alongside the limited edition print to raise funds for the Brain Tumour Charity.
Also featuring in the exhibition will be a clay vessel that Leah created during what must have been the early onset of her tumour, at a time when she was having severe headaches. Normally, a specific renaissance painting is a starting point for the work but in this case, she has no memory of making this vessel and she has no idea of the source of inspiration for it. This ‘mystery pot’ stands as testament to a major change in her life and health. The mystery pot will be the starting point of the exhibition.
In addition to producing the book, the artist has also developed a series of quilts and an embroidered pillow both of which will be on display at the exhibition. There will also be a collection of embroidered handkerchiefs on show. Leah has collected these over her lifetime and they feature some of the artist’s one-off embroidered drawings and artworks. These will be available for sale alongside the limited edition print to raise funds for the Brain Tumour Charity.
Works
