WTFunding: Hysterical’s Eliza Hatch & Bee Illustrates  

This week, the creative duo behind the art collective Hysterical shares how they funded the first two iterations of their annual group exhibition.

We’re back with our latest instalment of WTFunding (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) – our online series demystifying funding in the creative industry, speaking to a range of leading creatives and getting to the nitty-gritty of how they’ve made their ideas a reality.

This week, we hear from Eliza Hatch (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and Bee Illustrates (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), whose first meeting was that of a modern romance – that is, they slid into each other’s DMs to admire one another’s work. 

The creative duo were both utilising Instagram to share their creative endeavours – for Eliza, this was her photo series and online safe space Cheer Up Luv (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), documenting people in the spaces where they’d previously been sexually assaulted and creating a social platform to highlight political stories surrounding safety and harassment. Meanwhile, Bee began posting their artwork online around the same time, discussing and sharing thoughts on identity, mental health and queer culture through their uplifting artwork.

Together, they decided to launch Hysterical (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), an art collective and group exhibition. The name ‘Hysterical’ came from the pair’s shared experience with the term as a response to their advocacy work, reimagining its associations with being ‘overly dramatic’ and ‘attention seeking’ to represent the activism and artworks of women and people of marginalised genders.

Since its launch in 2022, Hysterical has since gone on to host two week-long gallery exhibitions, chaired panel talks with the artists and exhibited over 50 powerful works of art. As the duo prepare for Hysterical’s exhibition offerings for 2024 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), they have shared their funding experience and insights, working with artist collectives, galleries and Arts Council England for the first time.