As a student at Goldsmiths College in the mid 1980s, “I was inspired by tutors Mary Kelly and Andrea Fisher who brought feminist thinking to pared back form. From there, I learnt of artists Roni Horn and Felix Gonzalez-Torres who saw minimalism as a space for exploring Queer identity. Light, as both material and metaphor also run through my work – my first studio as a young artist was the family greenhouse. That simple structure coupled with a feeling of being subsumed in light and transparency has influenced much of my thinking.”

Bradley’s current exhibition is a survey of more than three decades of practice in different forms and mediums at The Box, Plymouth. Titled ‘Running and Returning,’ the exhibition also coincides with the publication of a new monograph of Bradley’s work. The exhibition runs until November this year.

Victoria Pomery, CEO of The Box, is Bradley’s champion for The Wick. “Jyll Bradley has been creating captivating work for more than three decades, her pioneering approach and creativity resulting in a broad-ranging practice. Over the years her work has evolved and changed, encompassing drawing, photography, film, poetry and large-scale public artworks. Whilst her practice is diverse, there are some themes that Bradley returns to repeatedly, hence the title of her current exhibition, Running and Returning”, Pomery told The Wick.

“Light is a vital element in Bradley’s work used as material and metaphor to investigate ideas of belonging and place, family, sexuality and environment. Bradley’s use of light has also kept the work fluid and unbound by categorisations. Its fresh approach and ability to reference contemporary issues without judgement, often within the forms of minimalism, is one of its many strengths. Witnessing Bradley’s ability to combine the highly personal with the universal has been a privilege. The one has nurtured the other, as she generates conversations across time and place to form a distinctive vision that she shares with generosity.”

There has been a resurgent interest in Bradley’s early work, including the photographic self-portraits she made while still a student at Goldsmith’s, exploring her identity as a queer woman. She will be showing a suite of these at Independent New York in September, one of the first time she has exhibited them. “These add perspective to what we understand of art in the YBA (Young British Artist) era, and Queer image-making of the time.” After that, she heads to Turkey for a solo exhibition, Hot Frame, at her gallery Pi Artworks in Istanbul to coincide with the Istanbul Biennial.

It’s an exciting time for the artist. “I see this as a spiritual path,” Bradley adds. “With the show, there’s a delight and strange comfort in discovering unexpected connections between works – things I hadn’t seen before. It is a joy and a privilege to be living right now in the moment of my biggest achievement.”