Sue Webster's 'Birth of an Icon' at Firstsite Explores Fandom and Self-Mythology
Sue Webster's solo exhibition 'Birth of an Icon' at Firstsite in Colchester traces her lifelong obsession with Siouxsie Sioux and pop culture through installations, paintings, and customised jackets. The show features 'The Crime Scene' (2017–), a sprawling wall installation mapping her life via albums, news clippings, and personal artifacts, and includes 18 Siouxsie-inspired jackets painted during COVID. Webster, now fifty-nine, presents giant oil self-portraits of herself pregnant at fifty-two, culminating in 'The Epiphany' (2026), a Madonna-and-Child depiction with her son. The exhibition marks her first major solo work after dissolving her artistic partnership with Tim Noble, reclaiming artmaking as an act of self-sovereignty. On view through 10 May 2026.
Key facts
- Sue Webster's solo exhibition 'Birth of an Icon' is at Firstsite, Colchester, through 10 May 2026.
- The show includes 'The Crime Scene' (2017–), a wall installation covering her life with albums, news cuttings, and a passport photo.
- Webster painted 18 Siouxsie-inspired jackets during 2019 and COVID, displayed like bats.
- The exhibition features giant oil self-portraits of Webster pregnant at fifty-two.
- The final work 'The Epiphany' (2026) depicts Webster and her son as Madonna and Child.
- Webster previously worked as Tim Noble and Sue Webster for over two decades.
- The exhibition explores fandom as a method of self-discovery and reclaiming artistic agency.
- Webster adopted Siouxsie as a surrogate mother during a troubled adolescence in a paediatric psych ward.
Entities
Artists
- Sue Webster
- Siouxsie Sioux
- Tim Noble
- King Kurt
- New Order
- Charles Manson
- Fred West
- Rose West
- The Beatles
Institutions
- Firstsite
Locations
- Colchester
- United Kingdom