Racheal Crowther

Chisenhale is pleased to present Liquid Trust, the first institutional exhibition by London-based artist Racheal Crowther. Through the interplay of architecture, scent, and colour, Crowther's new commission explores how bodies are processed, manipulated, and soothed within institutional spaces and systems. Comprising three interconnected works, the installation moves between military infrastructure, neurochemical signalling, and histories of psychological design.

At the centre of this exhibition is a US-manufactured mobile health unit previously used by the British Armed Forces. With its operational history only partially legible, the unit is a liminal space where bodies were once assessed and categorised. Residual markings, paperwork, and signage imply a site of triage or quarantine, while its portability signals situations in which care and control occur beyond conventional frameworks.

Chemical and organic compounds are diffused into the gallery's airspace, operating at the threshold of human perception. Substances associated with the scent of powdered milk – an ultra-processed life-sustaining substance – trace its transformation from surplus dairy by-product to military provision and ubiquitous industrial filler, reflecting how lactation and nurturing have become abstracted through manufacture and distribution. Also circulating is hexadecanal, a molecule emitted by all human bodies, particularly newborns, and believed to trigger neurological and behavioural responses. These materials are linked to Crowther's interest in oxytocin, the hormone that stimulates lactation and social bonding, connecting histories of care-giving and military pharmacological use.

The entire gallery is transformed through the application of Baker-Miller pink, a colour historically used across carceral, medical, and military environments in attempts to reduce aggression. Its presence underscores the enduring belief in psychological control through design.

Moving from object to atmosphere to total enclosure, Liquid Trust draws attention to the material, chemical, and psychological infrastructures that quietly organize civic life. It continues Crowther's long-term examination of how governance, surveillance, and institutional power are entangled with systems of care.

Racheal Crowther lives and works in London. Selected exhibitions include: Gebrauchsmusik, Galerie Noah Klink, Berlin, 2025; Royal Academy Schools Show, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2024; Managed Decline, 243 Luz, Margate, 2023; Qualified to Care , Ginny on Frederick, London, 2022; Intermission: White Noise Ballrooms, Camden Arts Centre Off-Site Programme, Cork Street Galleries, London, 2020; Hard Shoulder, Peak Gallery, London, 2019.