I am a British-New Zealand figurative artist working in oils. I have painted for as long as I can remember. Growing up, I had watercolour lessons with my Gran, who was not actually my Gran but my Stepmother. I come from complicated. For this reason I will always consider watercolours to be special even though over the years I have developed a love for oils. Painting is incredibly important to me because it makes me feel connected to her still, each day.
My work primarily explores themes of self and identity, creating reflections of an inner world. Painting for me is a way to explore and engage with difficult emotions and life experiences. It’s a way of processing feelings that often seem difficult to define, to make sense of and ultimately to navigate. My work is about my life, allowing me to express emotions that would otherwise feel intangible.
I create figurative paintings with echoes of my grounding in watercolour, contrasting realism with watery abstraction. The models are often depicted wearing a mask of heavy make-up and Elizabethan style ruffs, something that has been in part inspired by my background in theatre, and in no small part inspired by watching Peter Greenaway’s Prospero’s Books during my Art Foundation Course. Yet behind each piece lies a hidden story, emotion or memory transfixed in time.
I am interested in striving to create works that are partially unfinished, though a life time of perfectionism and a love of details often make this challenging. I consider the ‘unfinished’ as a mirror to real life, where things are seldom perfect or resolved, where there is a persistent struggle for balance and equilibrium, and everything is transient and ever changing.
The story behind the mask
I’ve grown up with rosacea, where every microscopic flicker of emotion is projected onto my skin like a neon sign for all to see. My discovery of make-up came as a revelation - a product that could disguise all the embarrassment and shame and allow me freedom to live without continual exposure to the world. That freedom quickly became a prison, for I grew fearful of being seen without the mask.
From a young age I have suffered from a range of mental health disorders that have included social anxiety, anorexia, compulsive hair pulling, compulsive skin picking, depression and self-harm. Many of these I still struggle with today. They have left long term damage and intense feelings of shame.
The mask of make-up serves a multi-functionary purpose; to cover the rosacea, the blushing and damage I have inflicted through over twenty years of skin picking. It has become a metaphor symbolising shame, self-loathing and internal anguish I have wanted to keep hidden from the world.
Even though I paint other women, I usually consider that I am painting myself. The model may wear a blank, expressionless face, yet I am trying to capture a sense of myself looking out at the world defiantly through the mask.
This is not a bid for sympathy but an attempt to take off the mask that I have worn for too long. To try to find a sense of peace with that which lies beneath. It is my hope that speaking out will help other suffers know that they are not alone.
Awards
2023 The London Invitational Art Award
2023 The Lawrence Coulson Art Award
2021 Winner of The Hollybush Emerging Woman Painter Prize of 2021
Exhibitions (Group & Solo)
2024 South West Academy Exhibition, Thelma Hubert Gallery, Honiton
2023 Galeria Moderna Winter Exhibition, Grand Arcade, Cambridge
2023 Stroud Artists Cooperative Woodruff’s Exhibition, Woodruff’s Stroud
2023 Stroud Artists Cooperative Winter Exhibition, Lansdown Gallery, Stroud
2023 Amplifying Kindness with Art - A virtual Instagram Exhibition, Time for Kindness & ArtCan
2023 Galeria Moderna Summer Exhibition, Grand Arcade, Cambridge
2023 Studio 18 Open Exhibition, Stroud
2023 ‘From ArtCan with Love’, Bermondsey Project Space, London
2023 Winner of The London Invitational Art Awards, Galeria Moderna, Castle Fine Art, Mayfair, London
2023 ‘Ways of Seeing’, Group Show, Lansdown Gallery, Stroud
2023 ‘A Glorious Journey’, Group Show with ArtCan for Morgan Philips UK, Different Gallery, Fitzrovia, London
2022 South West Academy Open Exhibition, Kennaway House, Sidmouth, Devon
2022 Society of Women Artists 161st Annual Exhibition, The Mall Galleries, London
2022 Stroud Artists Cooperative En Plein Air Exhibition, Stroud
2022 Quality Art Foundation Finalists Exhibition, Kings Road, Chelsea, London
2022 The Hollybush Emerging Woman Painter Prize, Lauderdale House, Highgate, London
2022 ‘Conversations in Therapy’, Solo Show, The Art Space, Cass Art, Islington, London
2022 Stroud Artists Cooperative Annual Group Show, Lansdown Gallery, Stroud
2022 Royal Cambrian Academy RCA Annual Open Exhibition, Conway
2021 Society of Women Artists Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London - (online)
2021 Zebra One Gallery, Hampstead, London
2021 Tyndale Arts Week, Gloucestershire
2021 Studio 18 Open Exhibition, Stroud
2021 Stroud Artists Cooperative Annual Group Show, Lansdown Gallery, Stroud
2021 Figurative Art Now, Federation of British Artists, Mall Galleries, London - (online)
2021 Winner of The Hollybush Emerging Woman Painter Prize of 2021
2021 London Art Biennale, Chelsea Old Town Hall, London
2021 Stroud Artists Cooperative Art Fair, Subscription Rooms, Stroud
2020 Society of Women Artists Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London - (online)
2019 Long listed for the Jacksons Open Painting Prize
2019 Totterdown Arts Trail, Bristol
2015 Tobacco Factory Bristol, joint exhibition with Joe Greenaway
2014 The National Space Centre, Leicester
2013 The Eclectic Selves. Parlour Showroom, Bristol
2013 The Bristol Fringe, Solo Show
2013 Camaradas UK & México art competition. Official Residence of Mexico, London.
2012 Easton Arts Trail, Bristol
2011 Easton Arts Trail, Bristol
Memberships
2023- Academician of the South West Academy of Fine and Applied Arts
2023- Member New Bath Arts Club
2021- Member of ArtCan
2021- Member of Stroud Artists Cooperative
Publications
2021 The London Art Biennale, Exhibition Catalogue
Interviews
2023 Behind the Artist, Interview with Sophie Skelton
2023 Galeria Moderna & The London Invitational Winners, The Cass Art Blog
Relevant Professional Experience
2010-2012 Scenic Artist, Welsh National Opera. Working on productions for companies including Welsh National Opera, English National Opera, Opera North, Glyndebourne, The Royal Opera House, The Royal Ballet and the BBC.
2009 Work experience at The National Theatre, London
2009 Work experience at Theatre Royal Plymouth
2006 Work experience at Johnathan Saunders, London
Education
2008-2009 Post Graduate Diploma in Scenic Art, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
2004-2007 BA Hons Degree in Textiles, University of the West of England
2002-2003 Diploma in Art Foundation Studies, University of the West of England