3 New 2020 graduates: Llinos Owen, Fiammetta Nisio and Heather Christie

Heather, Fiammetta and Llinos

Heather Chrtistie: Heather Christie paints landscapes in an extraordinary sense – using the memory of illustrious geographies, such as Bali, to guide her intuitive abstractions. Her work interrogates the relationship between memory and painting, aiming to work up feelings of awe using only the remnants of past experience, and the humble medium of oil paint. The resulting pieces evoke a drama that is hard to place, with splashes of pink and buttery yellows that freely emerge from inky backgrounds. Christie further draws inspiration from a variety of sources, from the German Romanticism of the 19th century, to the in-situ immersive paintwork of the contemporary artist Katherina Grosse. With each piece Christie pushes how loosed from realism and literal forms a landscape can go.

Fiammetta Nisio: The title of Fiammetta Nisio’s duology of works, ‘It’s Not Like It Seems’ fittingly describes her photographic practice at large. Working with traditional darkroom techniques, her experiments draw on early avant-garde photograms of the 1920s, finding new ways to play with chemicals and light. As Nisio finesses her technique, the resulting images deepen in mystery; light morphs into abstract forms that provide ample space for viewer contemplation. Strangely bold and fragile at the same time, shapes depend on the eye of the beholder – much like gazing up at clouds. Whilst the objects used to manipulate light are absent from the final works, Nisio ensures they leave their traces in beautifully significant ways.

Llinos Owen: Engaging with Llinos Owen’s work is akin to people-watching in a stylish city; you casually look out for self-expression, pattern and colour, but it’s the witty delights that keep you hooked. Owen chronicles everything from identity and mythology, to contemporary Welsh culture, all with a sense of playfulness and keen observation. Her practice of embroidery and rug hooking adds an unprecedented tactility, subtly attuning the viewer to underlying notions of softness, the domestic sphere, and traditional handiwork. The contemporary subject matter brazenly makes a feminist intervention into decorative craft, a medium that has been historically belittled. This sits in line with the work advanced by fiber artists, whose creations break the boundary between fine art and utilitarian objects.

View all available 2020 graduate artwork here.

Left Sock by Llinos Owen