Pat Naylor, RvdW Treewoman 1, 2024, acrylic on paper, 27x18cm

"The human figure has always been central to my work. My figures inhabit a landscape that is deliberately ambiguous: a sense of peace or a threat? Inspired by stories of space travel and polar exploration, I previously set my figures against a looming sky. Recently, since relocating to live near Epping Forest, my work has been invaded by the trees, the garden, the leaves, the many rich shades of green.

The figures too have evolved, inspired by historical depictions of humanity from ancient Egypt to the 20th century. The figures are reclaimed and developed without reference to a specific time or place. The materials are part of this process. I use expressive brushwork and bright colours for both the figures and the setting, and choose not to hide all evidence of previous compositional choices; in this ghost world the figures appear corporeal but not entirely solid, they may be consumed by the natural world or disintegrating into the past but they remain alive
and present. Painting as archeology."

Pat Naylor is a UK artist based in Essex. She was awarded a BA in Fine Art from Preston and an MA in Illustration from the RCA (1982). She recently returned to making art after a long career in the music industry and several years studying medieval history, culminating in a PhD in 2008.

She credits the support of art college friends for a return to painting and she participated alongside them in alumni exhibitions in Lancaster (2017) and central London (2018). Since then, she has had a solo exhibition at The Stone Space in Leytonstone and recently contributed to group shows in Sheffield, Matlock and 'England is a Forest,' curated by Small Works in Colchester, 2024.