East London artist Cassandra Yap presents Becoming, a powerful new solo exhibition at Edit Gallery in Covent Garden (8–31 May 2026), introducing The Embody Collection, a striking series of feather works that reimagine the female form through a lens of strength, intimacy, and self-possession. Blending delicate materials with bold visual storytelling, Yap challenges the objectification of women in contemporary media, offering a timely exploration of vulnerability, transformation, and the reclaiming of feminine identity.
Yap’s new series The Embody Collection explores the tension between delicacy and power, using feathers as an unconventional canvas to challenge ideas of femininity and reclaiming the female gaze. By reworking the visual language of pin-up imagery, the series shifts these figures away from objectification and towards something more self-possessed, intimate, and quietly powerful. The quiet tension between fragility and strength that runs throughout the work feels especially relevant right now.
The Embody Collection is a series of feather works that celebrate the female form through an intimate, self-assured lens. Feathers have long been associated with femininity, appearing throughout fashion, burlesque and costume. At the same time, they hold deeper symbolic weight, representing lightness, flight, and the possibility of transformation. Each feather is printed with a female body – curves, skin, and subtle textures – rendered across feathers in a spectrum of skin-toned hues. The delicacy of the feather contrasts with the presence of the body it carries, creating objects that feel both light and deeply embodied.
In a world that moves at relentless speed, where connection is often filtered through screens and intimacy reduced to signals and notifications, a kiss is the meeting of breath, of warmth, of vulnerability. In that small suspended moment, walls soften and distance dissolves, reminding us that love and tenderness often exist in the lightest of gestures. This work celebrates the kiss as something both gentle and profound. Soft as a feather, yet powerful enough to lift us, if only for a moment, above the every day.”
Cassandra Yap
Notable works include Born To Rise, which explores the quiet power held within softness. A wing in blush tones becomes both image and symbol – its delicate feathers carrying screen-printed pin-up figures that feel at once intimate and self-assured. Born To Rise references the quiet strength of women. The shade of Blush, often associated with tenderness and vulnerability, is reimagined by Yap as a color of strength.
In Embody, the feather becomes both surface and symbol: fragile yet resilient, individual yet collective. Seen through a perspective rooted in the female gaze, soft, tactile and intimate, the feathers become quiet carriers of diversity, sensuality and the quiet strength of being present in one’s own body. Feathers form a quiet circle, symbolising the shared space of womanhood. Soft yet resilient, each feather represents individuality while the circle reflects unity, cycles, and the collective strength found in feminine connection.
Cassandra Yap is a London-based print artist whose work celebrates the beauty andcomplexity of love and the power of female sexuality. Fuelled by her fascination with vintage pin-ups and the female form, she blends sensuality with surrealism to create pieces that are both seductive and thought-provoking. Her art delves into themes of reclaiming the narrative around desire, exploring how women experience and express love in both its tender and fierce forms to feel empowered, celebrated, and seen in all their complexity. Challenging the traditional portrayals of love and affection, Cassandra’s art offers a refreshing and nuanced perspective on modern intimacy.
Cassandra Yap’s work has gained recognition in exhibitions such as the Affordable Art Fair in London, where she has showcased her unique perspective in recent years. Cassandra’s work has captured the attention of galleries across the UK, where she is currently represented.
In addition to her art, Yap has successfully ventured into the world of fashion, collaborating with the iconic brand All Saints for their 30th anniversary. As part of this collaboration, she customised an All Saints signature leather jacket for a charity auction event at the prestigious Serpentine Gallery, with the proceeds going to Shelter UK.
In this series, I wanted to explore the quiet power in vulnerability. The feather is delicate yet it carries weight, much like the female figures printed onto them. They are soft, tactile and intimate, but also resilient, playful and confident. I hope Becoming invites viewers to pause and consider the beauty of transformation and how strength can exist even in the most fragile forms.”
Cassandra Yap
Becoming by Cassandra Yap is at Edit Gallery, 69 Neal Street Covent Garden, London from 8-31 May, 2026. Find more information here.
Follow Cassandra Yap here.
