Sisters Laura and Rachel Lancaster, who live and work in the North East, will showcase their work at Baltic on 12 April

Acclaimed artists and twin sisters Laura Lancaster and Rachel Lancaster – who live and work in the North East – will present the first major institutional showing of their work together at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art from Saturday 12 April.

“Remember, Somewhere” will showcase both new and existing works. The artists created these pieces in their shared studio in the Ouseburn Valley, just a mile from Baltic.

Laura Lancaster said: 

“We’ve shared a studio together in the Ouseburn, not far from Baltic for over 12 years now, and hope that the visitors in the exhibition will feel involved in this conversation between our two artistic practices and the conversations and exchange of ideas which was happening during the making of these paintings.

“This opportunity has allowed us to scale up our work and present the largest two-person exhibition of mine and Rachel’s work so far. As artists who grew up in and live in the North East of England it feels significant to present our work to this audience.”

Rachel Lancaster said: 

“I am excited to be showing my work with Laura at Baltic for our first duo exhibition in a museum setting. The support from Baltic has facilitated the production of a new body of (mostly) large scale works especially for the show – the largest I have made in over 15 years.

“The process of making these paintings has provided a great opportunity to delve deeper into themes and ideas within my work. It has promoted a vibrant conversation about the connections between my practice and Laura’s and I look forward to sharing this with the large and diverse audience of Baltic visitors. As an artist born and based in the North East it means a great deal to show my work in region.”

Lancaster Sisters at Baltic – Visually Opposite

Identical twins Laura and Rachel Lancaster have developed distinct artistic approaches. Their work may seem visually opposite at first. Laura uses a loose, gestural “wet on wet” painting technique, balancing figuration and abstraction. Rachel creates precise, luminescent images, layering thin glazes of oil paint for rich color and depth.

Laura Lancaster studied Fine Art at Northumbria University. She creates paintings based on found imagery from anonymous analogue photographs and film.

Shifting between the sentimental and the grotesque, Lancaster’s paintings are uncanny and strange, dreamlike visions from a shared consciousness. 

Lancaster challenges the gendered history of painting. She draws inspiration from artists like Francis Bacon, Willem DeKooning, Lovis Corinth, and James Ensor. Instead of asserting authorial control, she lets her work serve as a conduit. Through her paintings, the lives of the lost and nameless align with our own.

The Bigger Picture

Rachel Lancaster completed her MFA in Fine Art at Newcastle University and her BA at Northumbria University. She focuses on painting and its connections with cinema, music, and photography.

Photographic ‘stills’ from moving imagery, alongside an archive of her own photographs, become oil paintings.

Lancaster’s paintings represent detailed fragments of a greater narrative. She focuses on fleeting, seemingly insignificant shots – extreme close-ups of objects and ordinary domestic interiors. Her work captures split-second moments that exist “in-between” the action. Removed from their original narrative, these paintings become abstract and ambiguous. They hint at unknown events before or after, leaving their meaning open-ended.

Lancaster Sisters at Baltic – Remember, Somewhere

This exhibition highlights the connections between the two artists. Both share an interest in found images as the foundation of their work. Laura collects discarded analogue photographs from second-hand markets and online. Rachel captures her own images from B movies and cult cinema.

Intimacy, ambiguity, and presence are central to both artists. Laura focuses on the solitary female dissolving into the landscape. Rachel depicts close-cropped figures in relation to specific jewelry or fabric. Both artists transform fleeting moments into something monumental. They explore monumentality from a feminist perspective through collective and collaborative authorship, engaging with found and dislocated imagery.

‘Remember, Somewhere’ will explore the relationship between the artists and their practice and will include newly commissioned works and loans from the Government Art Collection and various private collections.

‘Remember, Somewhere’ will be on show from 12 April – 12 October 2025.