Hattie Malcomson

Artist Statement

Whilst exploring themes such as women’s sexuality and beauty standards, my paintings portray female characters in different states of great self-assurance or vulnerability, depicted in spaces owned by them in which the viewer has intruded. Aware of their presence, the character either invites them in, knowing she is in control, or cries for help. Either way, she wants to be seen. I am interested in testing the aesthetic boundaries of taste and creating contradicting feelings of attraction and repulsion in the viewer with intense colour, heavy impasto against thin acrylic or oil, and characters in often sensual poses but sometimes grotesque faces. Self-expression is used regularly as a source for ideas, with the intention to convey universal female truths. This is often achieved in the form of self-portraiture. 

The work’s intention is to show honest female experiences in different forms. It is about raw female humanness and liberating and celebrating this, whilst confronting the patriarchal society that continues to ruin parts of its experience. An unapologetic pride in the feminine is also consistent throughout.