The grammar of myth and symbolism sparks my imagination and these stories become avenues to filter into with my own emotions. Working primarily in oils on canvas or linen, fictitious characters are often set within a dramatic, solitary scene. My background in performance finds me filtering theatrical elements into compositions, so that normal situations appear amplified by a soft stage glow, or heightened in eccentricity with frills and furbelows. Becoming a circus of fantasy, this introduction of magic elements into interior scenes gives everyday milieu an eeriness, exploring the boundaries between fact and fiction, theatrics and reality.

*Soon the curtain will be drawn*, oil on canvas

Through the distance this imagery and fictional muses permits, given the layers of obscurity, I am able to speak of my own truths. Further than this, myths can provide guidance, aid me in facing inner conflicts, and help me to reframe life experiences. Whilst difficult or challenging emotions may undulate under the surface of these canvas, markers of hope in the form of visual motifs offset this. Hopefully the emotive elements I invest in the paintings can be somewhat relatable, using escapist imagery to reveal truths about the everyday and interior life of ordinary people.

Swans have been a consistent motif in recent work. As a powerful symbol of transformation, they help me confront personal change. Swans are linked to many folkloric stories of shape-shifting, including the Odette character of Swan Lake, a tale that came to my knowledge due to my past in ballet. I am fascinated in the magic and awe an animal such as the swan can demand, despite being part of our everyday life. It is cathartic for me to learn of change as a vital part of life, yet this transformation can be messy and tormenting nevertheless. Painting images that reference cosmic transformations are a reminder that it is impossible to get trapped in an eternally unchangeable space. The story of Swan Lake is fraught with ethereal and romantic themes, yet has a dark, sorrowful edge, and I believe this tight rope it walks between hope and despair are dualities that exist in my own compositions.

I can be quite a sentimental person, obsessing over both natural rhythms and objects, often giving my work the essence of the romantics or pre-raphaelites. Yet this sense of wonder is balanced with my interest in contemplative studies on the human condition by modern painters such as Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper. Akin to many depictions, I try to achieve a sense of self-absorption in the figures who are caught in a deep moment of pondering or feeling. I derive my practice from the language of ballet and also literature, combined with reflections on personal memories; this means it becomes a fiction imbued with reality and truth. Whilst painting is therapeutic, I also enjoy the push and pull with the canvas. From the tension with the paint there is an engaging and stimulating conversation which has kept me interested for the hours that pieces take. The detail I employ takes hours to render, and I have always felt most comfortable getting lost in this process. In a similar way there is a tension in sewing that I do, but more in a physical sense through the push and pull of needle and thread, where in my time painting this dialogue is created through the methodical approach.

Paintings by Estelle Simpson

Paintings by Rida Zahra

Resting Place