Studio SHY presents SEMI-PERMANENCE, a solo exhibition by Sussex-based artist and designer Mia Wanaka Brimilcombe, and our first contribution to Artwave.
Mia makes wearable sculpture from bio-materials she began developing at CSM Grow Lab from algae and plant starch, then photographs it. The work explores adornment, transience and the environment, and asks what sustainability really means in design beyond longevity and durability.
“I am interested in the idea of an object that is designed or created to not last forever, but instead follow the cycle of the natural world.”
A studio for skin, body, mind and adornment. The rituals people keep, and the room they keep them in. Mia’s work asks how long beauty should last. It’s a question that feels at home at SHY.
About the artist
Mia Wanaka Brimilcombe is a Sussex-based multidisciplinary artist and designer working across sculpture, photography and adornment. She graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2025 with a BA in Fashion Design Womenswear, where her fully biodegradable graduate collection won the H&M Sustainable Fashion and Journalism Award 2025. Her work has featured in Noctis Magazine, 17.23 Magazine, Mob Journal and on DAZED Fashion’s Instagram. She held her first open studio at Newhaven Art Space in 2026.
Mia will be in residence for much of the exhibition and happy to talk about her work.
Prints
Signed and numbered prints are available to purchase in the studio.
Visiting
Exhibition open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm, and Sunday 13 September. Treatments Monday to Saturday, 10am to 6.30pm.
Studio SHY, 35 High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 2LU
Find us at number 112 on the Artwave trail map.
Open for treatments as usual. Come for your appointment, or drop in to see the exhibition.
Register your interest
If you’d like to arrange a time to meet Mia and talk with her about her work, register your interest below.