Delpha Hudson

Delpha Hudson completed her BA in History at London University in 1985, and now works from her studio in Penzance with a painting practice that is at once personal and political, historical and contemporary. Her paintings are also informed and inspired by her performance, film & conceptual art practice developed from 1998 when she became involved with socially engaged interdisciplinary projects about women, mothers and equality.

Developing her own resonant studio practice & painting style, she often uses conceptual media like dripped bitumen with oil paint on canvas to create rich tapestries of dark yet colourful scenes that aim to re-shape thinking about women, equality and visibility. Her paintings have been shown and sold all around the UK in unusual spaces as well as galleries since 2005.

Of her art, Delpha shares, “I make dark and whimsical figurative paintings that aim to reground human experience by satirizing historical narratives and reconstructing gender inequalities. By creating a productive disorientation of historical grand narratives, I think of painting as social work; creating new languages in which to change old narratives, and create new vehicles for ourselves and for the world around us, that call for change.

I paint chaotic and bizarre domestic scenes of every day life. Richly textured compositions on canvas use a technique of dripping bitumen, or work on paper uses ink to create dynamic networks or patterns from which figures weave a narrative. Surreal and dystopian figures gesture as if from a medieval illuminated manuscript, or an Old Master like Bosch or Michelangelo, yet choreographed with powerful female protagonists. Situating women and mothers in new imaginary realms challenges domestic legacies and makes women visible.”

More from Hudson at http://www.delphahudsonartist.co.uk