Elleanna Chapman – ‘Do Somethin’, at Focal Point

Do Somethin’ continues Chapman’s exploration of celebrity, identity, and popular culture, reimagining familiar public figures through unexpected visual and cultural pairings. Using found imagery, rhinestones, and nostalgic references, the work reflects the artist’s upbringing in a working-class Essex family, where an appreciation for so-called “low” culture — be it diamantés, kitsch ornaments, or Britney Spears — was embraced without irony. In doing so, Chapman reclaims visual languages often dismissed as excessive or unsophisticated, using them to challenge class-based assumptions about taste and cultural value. Her work also engages with the enduring stereotype of the “Essex girl”, embracing hyper-femininity, glamour, and artifice not as objects of ridicule but as expressions of identity, creativity, and self-determination.