Biography
Blake Prol Barbosa is a Spanish multidisciplinary artist based in Manchester, working across printmaking, analogue photography, oil painting, and textile-based sculpture. Their practice centres on lived experience, using the body as a symbolic vessel to explore themes of identity, religion, queerness, and mental health. Rooted in a dark Christian aesthetic, Blake’s work often grapples with contradictions—faith and doubt, beauty and suffering, visibility and erasure—transforming personal pain into something meaningful and shareable.
Currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts at Manchester Metropolitan University, Blake is equally committed to fostering community through collaborative and accessible art-making. In 2025, they co-curated and led the organisation of SRISHTI, a major group exhibition featuring 28 postgraduate artists, where they managed artist communications, logistics, and promotional strategy. They are also the chair of a student-led society that champions postgraduate and alumni artists through exhibitions, events, and online visibility.
Blake is the branding designer and a founding member of Intersect Arts Collective, an initiative supporting people with mental health difficulties in accessing creative spaces. With a practice grounded in care, craftsmanship, and critical reflection, they aim to build spaces—both physical and symbolic—where vulnerability can be visible, held, and honoured.