“There are endless links between the artists,” says Pippa Brooks, owner and curator of M. Goldstein, taking us through the East London gallery’s latest exhibition, Becoming – open from today. On one side of the room hangs a work by Liza Keane, a leather and silk bra created from a cast of her own bust, next to this is a photograph of legendary East Village artist Greer Lankton’s Candy Darling doll, a tribute to the trailblazing Warhol superstar constructed from tights stuffed with socks. Brooks pulls out her phone and shows us a photo of an archive piece created by Lankton: the ‘tit top’, which was available for custom order. It has a striking resemblance to Keane’s work, and those subtle connections pop up throughout the exhibition.

“I have had a lifelong fascination with those artists whose charisma cannot be denied or confined, who are their own creation,” Brooks continues. “Becoming explores artists who have little or no distance between their life and work. Whose presentation or transformation of self is as inspiring as their artistic output. Also the Becoming of magic from found or discarded objects. The recycling of trash into loved, meaningful art objects. And real magic.”

Across from Keane’s exhibit stands a hand-made sculpture by Dean JF Hoy depicting a deer with crystal-sewn eyes and a hanging crystal teardrop. To the side, two self-portraits by Princess Julia explore themes of self and freedom of expression, which also plays into Zoe Bedeaux’s Eau de Cuntsciousness, housed within a Regency period Stargazer’s cabinet. Against the back wall, a technicolour film by John Maybury plays, starring the iconic Leigh Bowery centre-stage, dancing wearing a merkin and shimmering bra and mask. Vibrant colours are painted with each gyrating movement.

As for the title, Becoming, Brooks explains: “There’s a quote in the Greer Lankton sketchbook where she says “I will not die, I will become.” After I read that I didn’t want to do this show unless Lankton was in it.”

Becoming runs between June 6th – 28th at M.Goldstein, 67 Hackney Road, E2 8ET