Image: John Hansard Gallery, Southampton
John Hansard Gallery has launched ‘SOFT/STRONG’, a new public window commission by Net Ember that brings together images contributed by more than 75 trans+ people from across the UK. The work, which explores personal, queer and redefined notions of masculinity, is on display from 19 August 2026 across the windows of John Hansard Gallery and City Eye in Southampton.
The commission was selected through the gallery’s Trans+ Visibility Open Call, which invited UK-based artists, designers and illustrators to propose work addressing trans+ pride and gender diversity. Launched on Transgender Day of Visibility 2026, the open call was presented by Southampton Pride in partnership with John Hansard Gallery, Trans Pride Southampton, GO! Southampton, City Eye, Breakout Youth and Beyond Reflections.
Five shortlisted works were displayed in Guildhall Square during Southampton Summer Sessions in June. Ember’s proposal was chosen through a public vote for a new commission: a vinyl artwork more than 10 metres high, produced through an open call for contributions from transmasculine people across the country.
‘SOFT/STRONG’ draws on more than 250 submitted images, including photographs, pets, screenshots, meaningful objects and tattoos. These elements are merged into an abstract composition that considers the varied and shifting experiences of masculinity within transness. The work makes both shared and individual experiences visible while inviting reflection on who remains unseen in public and political discourse.
The commission also addresses the role of digital communities in forming identity and sustaining relationships. According to the gallery’s project description, Ember’s transmasculine identity has been shaped by communities in Southampton and London, alongside UK-wide online spaces. By translating images and connections from online groups and social media into a physical public setting, the work focuses on the people, relationships and everyday moments that affirm a sense of self.
Net Ember, who uses they/them pronouns, is a trans nonbinary artist working between London and Southampton. Their practice spans sculpture, language and digital technologies, and examines the relationship between social systems, media and identity. The artist’s work explores how technologies that document people’s lives can also contribute to redefining them, asking how individuals are continually formed and transformed by the systems through which they are seen.
‘SOFT/STRONG’ is presented at John Hansard Gallery, 142–144 Above Bar Street, Southampton, and at City Eye. John Hansard Gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday from 11am to 5pm, with free entry; the commission’s published opening date is 19 August 2026, with no closing date specified.
