House of Frisson: Elevating the Misfit at Bruce Castle Museum
House of Frisson was proudly invited to present a two‑week solo exhibition in the Maker’s Studio at Bruce Castle Museum, showcasing my latest collection of collaged wall plates under the title House of Frisson: Elevating the Misfit.
This exhibition brought together everything at the heart of my practice: reinvention, nostalgia, queer defiance, and the quiet power of the overlooked. Across the walls, visitors encountered plates transformed through collage, colour, and layered imagery, each one built from discarded ceramics rescued from charity shops, street corners, and community donations.
What once was chipped, unwanted, or dismissed became vivid, humorous, tender, and defiantly alive. These plates are portals into a world where imperfection is not corrected but celebrated; where the misfit imagination reigns, where the ordinary is transformed into something captivating.
✦ The Theme Behind the Exhibition
House of Frisson: Elevating the Misfit was created to celebrate what refuses to disappear quietly.
Each plate began as something cast aside, chipped ceramics, unwanted dishes, objects that had slipped quietly out of sight. The recurring figures in my work follow a similar path: vintage dolls, fractured toys, and small relics of childhood that were once treasured and later abandoned or seen as strange. By bringing these elements together, I give space for what was discarded to speak again, transforming the overlooked into something humorous, defiant, and alive.
The exhibition invites viewers to imagine what these old toys might say if they could talk — the lives they lived, the hands that held them, and the resilience they carry. It is a space of reinvention, where discarded objects become storytellers and where the overlooked finally takes centre stage.
Here, the misfit is not corrected — it is celebrated. The unwanted is not hidden — it is elevated. The ordinary is not dismissed — it is transformed.
✦ Two Creative Workshops Celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month
As part of the exhibition, I had the pleasure of leading two hands‑on workshops at Bruce Castle Museum, each offering a different way for participants to explore collage, reinvention, and queer storytelling through ceramics.
Meet the Artist — Saturday 14 February 2026
The first session was a Meet the Artist workshop, designed as a natural extension of the exhibition. Participants arrived for a relaxed and playful afternoon of collage, bringing their own ceramic dishes to upcycle using my techniques.
Guided step‑by‑step, they learned how to paint, apply paper collage, and decorate ceramic surfaces using meaningful texts and imagery drawn from Bruce Castle Museum’s archives — including LGBTQ+ newsletters, posters, flyers, and book and magazine covers from the 1980s onwards. The atmosphere was warm, colourful, and full of curiosity — a joyful way to celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month in Haringey through making and conversation.
Collage & Affirmation Plates — Sunday 15 February 2026
The second workshop was a more intimate session, where participants worked with ready‑painted discarded plates prepared especially for the day. Using LGBTQ+ affirmation quotes inspired by the landmark book Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin, we created pieces that honoured both the anniversary of this publication and the wider celebrations of LGBTQ+ History Month.
It was a gentle, reflective afternoon — hands busy, minds open, and stories unfolding through colour, text, and reclaimed materials.
✦ Closing Reflections
These past two weeks at Bruce Castle Museum have been a deeply meaningful chapter for House of Frisson. To exhibit this collection in the Maker’s Studio — surrounded by history, community, and the stories held within the museum’s archives — felt like the perfect home for this body of work.
I’m grateful to everyone who visited the exhibition, took part in the workshops, or simply paused in front of a plate and allowed themselves to imagine the lives behind these objects. Thank you to the team at Bruce Castle Museum and Haringey Council for the invitation, the trust, and the generosity throughout the process.
Sharing House of Frisson: Elevating the Misfit during LGBTQ+ History Month — through both exhibition and making — has been a powerful way to honour queer histories, voices, and futures.
Thank you for being part of it.
Lov&Frisson,
Luciano R.