Kerry Hudson shows off some of the handmade knitted cakes in her exhibition at the Core Arts Gallery

A determined artist is hosting a nostalgic exhibition in Homerton, overcoming bipolar disorder to make it a success.

Kerry Hudson’s exhibition is called Nan’s Cabinet and is an instalment which mixes textiles, photography, sounds and scents to recreate memories from her early childhood.

A Homerton resident for 10 years, she said: “This is an exhibition with no abstract meaning behind it. There’s lots of bunting and anything that you can imagine your nan would have in her cabinet. When you walk into the room it really smells of lavender. I wanted to get a feeling going for the installation piece.”

Diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2005, she finds work can help. “It depends what the work it but I find writing is my medication,” she said.

“Leading up to the show was stressful but it was a really good, fun kind of stress. I was losing sleep but it was still really nice. I feel alright now but with it came a high and a low but that’s just a natural cycle.”

She said the opening night, for her first solo exhibition since 2000, had a good turnout. She hopes to do more exhibitions as well as raising awareness of mental health problems through her writing.

The exhibition runs at Core Arts Centre, 1 Saint Barnabas Terrance, E9 until July 17. Viewing is by appointment; contact Core Arts on 020 8533 3500.