Yvadney Davis

With a career in fashion design and public relations that followed studies at Camberwell School of Art and Central Saint Martins, the global pandemic that started in 2020 reunited Yvadney Davis and her love of painting, something that she hadn’t practiced for many years.


She says “I’ve just entered my middle years and am a granddaughter of the Windrush Generation. This identity, alongside my career as a fashion stylist, forms my portraits. I love playing with bright colours and evocative prints to tell my stories; I champion the hidden sensuality of the middle aged woman; and explore what it means to be a Black British Caribbean over seventy years since our arrival to the UK.”


Art has run in my family through the generations, but I am the first who has been able to pursue it professionally. As a grandchild of the Windrush Generation, this means a lot, to have the freedom to lean into a passion while my children watch on-my ancestors’ wildest dreams.


Her most recent work, ‘Granny’s House’ was inspired by spending time with her grandmother before she passed away in 2021. She says, “I combine the distinctive mid–century wallpaper of my grandparent’s generation with proud portraits of their legacy. It is a way to link the generations and bring an evocative slice of the 60s and 70s British Caribbean experience into the present.


See more from Yvadney Davis at yvadney.art