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ABOUT

ARTIST STATEMENT

I am a figurative painter creating tightly cropped, bold and contemporary compositions, focusing on fabric, hands and glimpses of flesh.

My primary subject is the clothed figure. I find inspiration in art history, learning from the subjects and techniques and reinterpreting them through the lens of contemporary fashion. I photograph models wearing sumptuous and elegant clothing to use as source material. Drawn studies on paper help to prepare for the paintings made in acrylic on wooden panels. My paintings consider how gesture, colour and composition can capture the most vivacious qualities of fabric and bodily contours. My dance background reveals itself in the quality of my mark making. Paul Klee described drawing as ‘taking a line for a walk’ but I want to take a line for a dance. I use strong textured brush strokes that contrast transparency and opacity to explore negative and positive space. Each painting is guided by weight and movement in a style that explores the possibilities of paint. Loose marks are contrasted with hard edges and flat blocks of colour to create a delicate and powerful image. Both subtle and sensual, the visual language uses enticing shapes, curious subjects and suggestive compositions.

BIOGRAPHY

Fiona lives and works in Brighton, UK. After studying Contemporary Dance and Choreography (BA) at Middlesex University, she spent ten years in London working as a Picture Editor and Presentation Network Director for broadcast television. She moved to Brighton in 1998 to study Garden Design and Garden History (RHS Horticulture, City & Guilds) before working as a freelance Garden Designer for four years. Curiosity and passion for the drawing element in this work led to a pupillage with painter Nick Bodimeade. An MA in Art and Design, at Brighton University, gave Fiona the opportunity to bring together her complimentary skill set spanning; dance, photography, moving-image, design and drawing, adding motion-graphics to use in her short-films. She achieved a distinction and spent the following twelve years making fine art and commercial short films, combining drawing, fabric and pattern with the silhouetted moving body; threads that would continue through her work. ‘Wallpaper’ featured in the BFI film festival 2011.

Fiona’s painting career developed alongside this: using acrylics as her primary medium and the figure as her focal subject. A keen interest in art history, fashion and dance informs her paintings. A highlight of 2023 was being in the Royal Academy Summer Show.

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