Solitude: “a lonely or uninhabited place.; the state or situation of being alone.”. In Solitude is a virtual/online exhibition mixed with a publication to celebrate works of art that explore solitude.
Please press the artists’ names to navigate throughout the exhibition.
22 FEB -> 12 MAR 2025
IN
SOLITUDE
James Verity – Glenn Thomas – R. Prost – Philip Watkins – Caroline Marg Elliott – Fatma Durmush – Francesca Texidor – Sergei Shteiner – Vladimir Mikhalko – Jenny Kallin – Jeff Hunter – Delia Zorzoliu – Yewbowart – Paul Tranter – Jemima Charrett-Dykes – Emily Carney – Fiona Lynn – Eva Marschan-Hayes – Crisia Constantine – Alice Finnerty – Siyu Zhong – Fillia Barden – Tristan Omar Mohamed
James
verity
ABOUT SOLITUDE:
These figures, these lost and tortured souls, are all isolated and alone in their individual worlds of suffering. Mental illness can, for the most part, feel like an incredibly isolating experience. That isolation can come from feeling like nobody can understand what you’re going through.
I wanted to make something that hopefully collectors can connect to visually. Mental illness has been a significant part of my life. Both as a sufferer and supporter. It feels important to me to use a way to express something I feel strongly about through art. This has been a form of art therapy for me, and hopefully for a buyer who can relate. Or anyone who just feels these pieces are interesting.
My sculpture work focuses on the visual manifestation of mental illness symptoms, such as emotional overwhelm, depression and despair. I also create abstract forms and vessels using hand building. My sculpture work takes weeks to create, as I begin by creating the basic structure and dimensions, before using a mixture of tools and fingers to carve out the features. I then cut the piece in half to hollow out the inside, before I score and slip the piece back together.
A recent comment on one of my sculptures was: “I can relate to this, I feel like if you looked inside my brain that’s exactly what’s inside”
Figure#5 (2024)
Sculpture
Figure#5 When you are overcome with rage and shame and desperately don’t want to be here anymore. This is explored through the claw-marks deep into the skin and the exploding mind. When your thoughts can no longer be contained.
Figure#8 (2024)
Sculpture
Figure#8 The removal of the top of the head explores the feeling of disassociation and feeling there is a part missing. Incomplete in some way.
Figure#6 (2024)
Sculpture
This is another piece in my collection of a series of sculptures focusing on the visual manifestation of mental health symptoms. My aim is create works that people can relate to and connect with emotionally. Mental illness is something I have a close personal connection to, and my goal is to communicate this through my work. Mental illness is not pretty, it is ugly. It is dark, overwhelming and consuming. The abstract nature of these figures reflects the fact that when you are in it, you don’t feel like yourself. You don’t feel human. You don’t recognise yourself. You need an open mind and bravery to claim and display one of these pieces. They are not for everyone. I feel the best art should provoke a strong emotion and polarise. Figure#6 When you feel yourself shifting and nothing feels solid or tangible. Literally dissociating from yourself and reality.
Figure#4 (2024)
Sculpture
Figure#4 The feeling of being frozen in a black lake of depression and despair. You can’t think, you can’t breathe, you can’t move.
Figure#7 (2024)
Sculpture
Figure#7 The removal of the mouth is symbolic of feeling like you have no voice. You can’t express how you feel. You are screaming silently.
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
Figure#5 (2024) portrays a sculpture of a figure that looks to be tormented and fragmented as though it is in anguish and screaming out as its head is ripped out and has exploded right out of the sculpture. There are claw marks etched within the surface of the material used for the sculpture, which could suggest that there is self-inflicted harm – both (as with the exploding mind) are physical and mental, symbolising the existentialistic pain and self-torment often associated with mental illness.
VIEW THE FULL REVIEW HERE.
GLENN
THOMAS
Making art seems to be a reaction to my being in this temporary human visit we all experience. It began with the impulse to make things, chairs, tables, even a small boat. I ran out of functional objects to make and at my brothers suggestion began to paint and make art. I was free of the functional objects and unknown to me at the time, began an inner journey with endless possibilities. This practice continues to this very day. There is a never ending joy in the process of making something that has never existed, that collaborates with me in it’s development.
Primal fears, complex relationships, eternal questions, disappear. The often violent events that take place on the planet, and a society that seems to accept being born, growing up, and dying as something logical has always puzzled me and I have done my best to try and avoid getting too involved. The proverbial space between art and life seems to be disappearing as I approach the end of my visit. Where the forms, images, colours, come from I have no idea… As luck would have it, I am not alone in this occupation and can derive great comfort in perusing the history of art, which inspires and eases any loneliness…..
Night cracks (2024)
Linocut
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
Night Cracks (2024) opens with the words “Listening to the rain play an impressive percussion piece on the attic window while I tremble in bed, the thoughts piling up in my head.”. These words help to bring the viewer into what seems to be a recollection of memories as suggested by the text: “dreadful memory” and to have them “disappearing into the lost expanse”. The section we have highlighted suggest these memories to be terrifying or traumatising memories.
VIEW THE FULL REVIEW HERE.
R.
PROST
Less is enough. These pieces examine aspects of solitude using language.
Silence No. 1
Visual Poem
Identity
Visual Poem
Rose
Visual Poem
Acompanado
Visual Poem
Drifting
Visual Poem
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
The series of works that Prost is showcasing in this publication have stripped the language to its simplest form, as single words or just letters, as in the case of Identity. In Rose, the first letter and the third letter have been swapped, changing the word to Sores. The jagged sides of the two rose petals seem to replicate the thorns of a rose and hold the word together.
VIEW THE FULL REVIEW HERE.
PHILIP
WATKINS
ABOUT SOLITUDE:
Virtually all my work relates to solitude, particularly how places that are normally busy feel when deserted. There is often a feeling of solitude that arises from the viewer being the only person ‘present’ in the painting. The painting of the cancer clinic waiting room was painted after my experience of being diagnosed with cancer and the solitude one feels when waiting for the results of tests. (Thankfully, I’ve been clear now for 4 years).
I am interested in townscapes and the urban environment, particularly seaside resorts or industrial sites/estates and parks – anywhere where human activity comes up against nature. I like to contrast the artificial patterns of the architecture with natural forms. Often the places that act as starting points for paintings have a particular personal meaning for me, sometimes they are just places I come across where I get a particular sort of feeling of desertion.
Waiting Room, Cancer Clinic. (2022)
Oil on Canvas
A painting done to represent my experience of waiting for test results and examinations during treatment for cancer.
Classroom (2020)
Oil on Canvas
A painting of an empty classroom made from drawings done whilst teaching an Adult evening class and wandering around an empty school in order that I didn’t spend too much time looking over peoples’ shoulders!
Click and Collect (2023)
Oil on Canvas
Sitting in a car during lockdown in a retail park.
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
Waiting Room, Cancer Clinic (2022) reveals the sterility of the clinical setting of the waiting room. The scene is clean, and the colour is low saturation yet lit by a pale fluorescent light. Concentrating on the light- the shadow and light have captured the institutional environment of a hospital well; the scene’s elements are well-polished, and the positioning of the perspective allows the viewer to see through an obscured part of the scene. This creates an atmosphere of uncertainty and vulnerability, which one may feel while waiting to be called by the doctor.
VIEW THE FULL REVIEW HERE.
CAROLINE
MARG
ELLIOTT
ABOUT SOLITUDE:
These works relate to solitude because the images of a lone tree serve as a metaphor for a human being on their own. The image with a group of trees also relates to solitude because it represents a landscape without a human presence, and the viewer can imagine themselves alone in the scene.
These works are ink jet prints on transparency, with monotype. They arose from my desire to create photographs with a more painterly, tactile quality, with less “perfection” than is normally found with photography. I have been taking landscape photographs for some time, often focusing on the outlines of trees, branches, or the human figure interacting with the landscape. I am fascinated by the shapes of trees, branches and leaves as silhouettes against the sky. To me, these forms have a strong emotional presence which varies according to the light, weather, and time of year.
When I started to use the technique outlined here I realised that not only was the quality of the image more painterly, but it also appeared to be nostalgic, as if it was an image from the past, similar to archaic forms of photographic technology. These particular qualities really pleased me because my overall goal has been to evoke the emotion in a landscape, such as pathos, beauty, strangeness, or sense of disorientation. The nostalgic aura of these works created a feeling of removal from the present time, as if taking the viewer into a different emotional sphere.
Oak tree on Caton’s Lane (2025)
Ink jet print on transparency, with monotype
A solitary oak tree, in winter, on an isolated track. A variable edition of 21.
Pines at the bend (2025)
Ink jet print on transparency, with monotype
Pines on a quiet road in the Fens. A variable edition of 21.
The lone tree (2025)
Ink jet print on transparency, with monotype
An oak in winter swathed with ivy. A variable edition of 21.
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
Oak Tree on Caton’s Lane (2025) depicts an oak tree standing in solitude against the rugged winter landscape in which the oak tree still stands despite the harsh environment. This brings the viewer feelings of endurance, survival and, of course, solitude. The oak tree creates a silhouette form, which gives the work contrast and draws the viewer’s eye directly towards the survival of this oak tree and how it stands strong. Thus, this tree brings contemplation for the viewer as it stands alone and within the calming solitude of a winter day.
VIEW THE FULL REVIEW HERE.
FATMA
DURMUSH
ABOUT SOLITUDE:
I now live in the solitude of an older woman ageing and behaving like Covid is still around.
In the space between loneliness, separation extinction, and suffering, I can see people seeking solace and enjoyment that lend them the carnage and knowledge of behaving well.
I seek the image of myself (2022)
Mixed Media on paper
It is a chaotic painting almost to the point of being in ruins and the image is cross and made into a superior beast.
I am entitled (2022)
collage and paint
Let me in and let me see.
I am a shadow (2021)
Acrylic
A little bit of wood and some paint and somehow the image floats. I see her and she is a bit of fun. Please have some fun too.
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
In I Seek The Image of Myself (2022), the work seems to chaotically spurl over isolation, ageing and what is left from loss. The abstract work bursts out like an explosion onto the composition and seems volatile, exploring the personal trauma that Durmush has been through and rising above it. The work itself does not have any area that one must focus on as the entire work implores the viewer to follow the marks of paint that Durmush has left as they shift from one area to another in fast motion.
VIEW THE FULL REVIEW HERE.
FRANCESCA
TEXIDOR
ABOUT SOLITUDE:
This photo is meant to portray a kind of anthropormorphic solitude, the solitude around the lonely table and chairs which don’t seem to receive visitors. The set-up is placed somewhat randomly in an empty field with huge agricultural dips and next to concrete in a zigzag pattern.
Francesca’s focus in photography is to stay curious and observant. She enjoys nature, street photography, and photojournalism because those are accessible every day. She finds historical urban photographs to contain a lot of hidden information about humanity and social justice based both on what you see and do not see. She believes continuing education is the best way to learn and takes local photography classes throughout the year.
Waiting Table (2024)
DSLR
A small table and chairs ‘waiting’ for people to sit is set next to a field with deep valleys and concrete zigzags.
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
Waiting Table (2024) takes a mundane object – the chess table with four symmetrical and rigid chairs against the open and uneven field. This creates a purpose for the furniture to contrast with this environment and surroundings, creating and potentially reinforcing a feeling of solitude within this space- or perhaps abandonment as it waits for someone to interact with it. This arrangement of the chairs around the chess table clashes with how unorganised the landscape is and does not integrate into the landscape. The concrete walls indented into the land are also evidence of human symmetry against this natural space- a human invasion of the environment.
VIEW THE FULL REVIEW HERE.
SERGEI
SHTEINER
I am a visual poet who works as a programmer in my free time.
Untitled
This is a conceptual piece from my This Artwork series that can be printed on canvas.
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
Untitled (or; This Lonely Artwork Longs to Join an Exhibition to no longer be alone) is from the same series that we had exhibited in our Gallery Informal exhibition. The work utilises a more direct approach with text in which its meaning is imminent and the message central. I have situated the work around the lower centre of the publication which surrounds this work by Shteiner with the work of the artists to complete the message.
Vladimir
mikhalko
ABOUT SOLITUDE:
My works visually and conceptually reflect the state of loneliness through the distortion of the human form, textured brushstrokes and unique composition of figures. In these paintings, the body loses its usual contours, the boundaries between the outer and inner worlds are blurred, and faces are either hidden or deformed, as if dissolving into space. This symbolizes the loss of identity that prolonged loneliness can bring, as well as the internal dialogue that unfolds in silence.
Hands play a decisive role in my paintings – they are tensely clenched, lowered or slightly extended, as if searching for support. This rigid, tactile body language conveys a sense of isolation, vulnerability and lack of connection with the outside world. However, the lack of active interaction with other figures emphasizes that loneliness is not only a physical condition, but also a deeply psychological one.
Thick impasto brushstrokes create a sense of heaviness, as if the space is pressing on the figures, enhancing the atmosphere of inner isolation. The muted yet complex color palette enhances the feeling of introspection and immersion in oneself.
The loneliness in these works is not just dark and oppressive, it is nuanced. It is not only a feeling of being cut off from the outside world, but also a moment of self-exploration, when one is forced to look inward. These paintings invite the viewer to reflect on their own experience of loneliness: how it changes the perception of self and reality, and whether it can be not only burdensome but also transformative.
Solitude is a paradoxical state, both isolating and deeply revealing. It casts aside external noise, forcing us into an intimate dialogue with ourselves. My work explores this fragile and often uncomfortable space, where the human form dissolves into abstraction, reflecting the psychological landscapes of loneliness.
With thick, textured brushstrokes and a muted yet layered palette, I seek to capture the weight of isolation. The figures in my paintings are distorted, their features obscured or fragmented, reflecting the way loneliness distorts perception – of self, time and space. These forms bend, blur and merge with their surroundings, existing in an indeterminate in-between space, neither here nor anywhere else.
I am drawn to the tension between presence and absence. My compositions often highlight hands – reaching, resting or hesitating – suggesting a longing for connection that remains just out of reach. However, the faces are lost, dissolving into the textures of the canvas, embodying the dissolution of identity that prolonged solitude can bring.
Rather than depicting loneliness as solely melancholy, I view it as a transformative experience. It is in solitude that we confront ourselves most honestly, where vulnerability and resilience coexist. My paintings invite the viewer to enter these quiet moments, to find echoes of their own solitude in the figures I depict.
This series is an exploration of what it means to be alone – not just physically, but emotionally and existentially. It is a meditation on the human condition, the spaces we inhabit within ourselves, and the beauty and unrest that arise when we are left with nothing but our thoughts.
Drowsing (2020)
Primed cardboard, oil paint
This work explores loneliness through the figure’s tense, constrained posture, its heaviness, and distorted form. The person is shown in deep introspection—head lowered, shoulders hunched, hands limp. The most striking element is the inverted head, creating a sense of disorientation, as if reality has lost its stability. This inversion symbolizes a disconnection from the outside world and a psychological state where loneliness distorts self-perception. The figure appears drained, both physically and emotionally. Thick impasto brushstrokes add weight to the composition, making the surrounding space feel dense and oppressive, emphasizing the sense of isolation. The muted palette of purples, browns, and greens enhances the melancholic atmosphere, while blurred highlights on the face and hands suggest dissolution and loss of identity. Loneliness in this painting is more than physical solitude—it is an internal experience where one is left alone with their thoughts. The upside-down head intensifies this, making the figure appear lost in an unstable, dreamlike state. The work invites the viewer to reflect on the dual nature of solitude: as both an overwhelming burden and a space for self-discovery.
Exhausted (2020)
Primed cardboard, oil paint
This painting conveys a deep sense of exhaustion and loneliness—not just physical, but emotional as well. The human figure is hunched over, hands hanging lifelessly, with a face that seems erased, consumed by emptiness. This is not just fatigue but a state of complete inner depletion, where the world feels distant and indifferent. Rough brushstrokes and thick textures intensify the weight of emotions. Muted shades of brown, purple, and green create a somber, oppressive atmosphere where loneliness becomes the only companion. The space around the figure appears both confined and endlessly empty, reflecting a sense of detachment and disconnection from the world. The lowered hands symbolize total helplessness—a moment when there is no strength or will to move forward. Blurred lines hint at the dissolution of identity, at the slow fading of the self into this endless isolation. This work invites reflection on the limits of human endurance—on how exhaustion and solitude can merge into a vast emptiness where hope slowly fades away.
Unbound (2020)
Primed cardboard, oil paint
This painting captures a moment of inner release—not through joy, but through pain and emptiness. The human figure is depicted in a tense posture, its face distorted, and its hands frozen between despair and hope. Blurred features, rough textures, and heavy brushstrokes create a sense of internal conflict and loss. The dominant shades of blue, ochre, and violet enhance the atmosphere of emotional instability. The figure’s face appears partially dissolved, symbolizing a release from the past but also a loss of self. One hand is relaxed, the other tense, as if the person is uncertain about their newfound freedom or fears what it might bring. The surrounding space feels fluid and undefined, as if the boundaries of reality are blurred. This work raises questions: Is freedom a relief or another form of loneliness? What remains when old ties are severed? Unbound tells a story of inner transformation, of a moment when the old world crumbles, and the new one has yet to take shape.
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
Drowsing (2020) portrays solitude as a hunched figure with a face turned around, appearing as though it is holding the weight of isolation psychologically and physically. In particular, the inversion of the head disrupts the figure, which seems to show its understanding and self-awareness of its loneliness as it looks upon itself- only.
VIEW THE FULL REVIEW HERE.
JENNY
KALLIN
ABOUT SOLITUDE:
The old lady looks into the dolls house scene. She is excluded as if looking back at her youth and has to stay alone in the outside world. The cosy small room glows within and she longs to sit on the red chair and sip tea from the green cup, but it is inaccessible and hopeless. The strange grey shadows blend with her grey hair like a web and the small dreamy world is beyond reach.
I have a Fine Art degree and have exhibited at Bankside, The House of Smalls in Edinburgh, The Cave Pimlico, Basingstoke Museum Gallery and at Burgh House in Hampstead. I am part of a Woman’s Art Group based at Beach Creative in Herne Bay. I love visiting Art Galleries and reading and sewing.
Alone and Outgrown (2024)
Coloured Pencil and Ink
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
Alone and Outgrown (2024) takes the viewer and captures and frames them within the work itself. The artwork is surrealistic and set within a domestic scene, which pits the viewer to the face of an older woman who has taken over the top half of the room. We are invited to become a part of this scene, which the older woman observes as she is emotionally attached to the doll room; however, she cannot enter it herself. The room is depicted with great detail- the objects are seemingly from the woman’s past: a red chair, a green tea set, a vase of flowers against the grandfather clock, and angular furniture.
VIEW THE FULL REVIEW HERE.
INTERVIEW WITH JENNY KALLIN:
What inspired you to create the work ‘Alone and Outgrown’ (2024)? Was there any personal experiences that have inspired it or any memories?
This is a self portrait reflected in the mirror at the back of an old dolls house. I remember playing with my dolls house as a child.
You have used the concept of solitude as a rather melancholic feeling within this piece, do you see solitude as inherently melancholic or do you think it can carry other meanings?
Solitude can be melancholic but also sometimes it is a relief to be alone. I have never lived alone… so I can not really speak from experience.
What was the process behind creating the work? Can you walk us through the process from the start to the end?
I sketched the drawing in pencil and then applied colour and ink in layers. I wanted to show old age and I wanted the work to appear gloomy and atmospheric.
Do the objects in the work, i.e. the tea set, flowers and potentially the furniture, have any specific meanings other than nostalgia to the older woman?
These are vintage dolls house items in the actual house and I tried to create an essence of what they look like to and to show their place in the dolls home as if they are lived in.
What emotions are you hoping to get from viewers interacting with the work?
An understanding of old age and a glimpse into an imaginary world.
You mentioned in your statement that you are a member of the Women’s Art Group at Beach Creative; how has this group help shape your approach to creating artwork?
I like working and exhibiting with a team, but at the same time free to do my own thing.
You mention that you’ve exhibited at venues like Bankside and Burgh House, how did this experience feel to you and how has it contributed to your artistic practice? Has it inspired anything or changed the way you work?
Selling work helps to pay for frames and materials and I enjoy meeting people at shows who are interested in my work. No, I do not change my work to suit a particular gallery: I just do the artworks and hope they will be approved off.
Where do you see your art in the coming years? Any upcoming projects?
I am working towards an exhibition at Burgh House in2026. I hope to apply for some competitions and to be shown in some galleries and Curator Space is very useful. I hope to continue drawing every day and to carry on restoring dolls houses and creating art based on my collection and also going to art exhibitions and museums whenever I can to get inspired.
jeff
hunter
ABOUT SOLITUDE:
This collage explores solitude by placing a lone scientific instrument within the vast, misty landscape of Caspar David Friedrich’s The Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog. Friedrich’s painting epitomises Romantic solitude, depicting a solitary figure gazing into an expansive, unknowable world. In this recontextualisation, the human wanderer is replaced by a machine—an object of analysis and observation—now standing alone in a space of contemplation rather than function.
This shift transforms the theme of solitude from personal reflection to technological isolation. The microscope, designed to examine microscopic details, is itself magnified and displaced, rendering it vulnerable and out of place. The swirling fog, so central to Friedrich’s work, obscures and reveals, enhancing the sense of uncertainty. Where Friedrich’s wanderer symbolised the individual’s search for meaning, this machine becomes an ambiguous presence—both explorer and relic, a stand-in for human curiosity, now untethered from its original purpose.
The torn collage edges reinforce this fragmentation, mirroring solitude as a state of separation. Yet, like Friedrich’s wanderer, the machine is both alone and engaged in deep observation. This piece questions whether solitude is a condition of estrangement or an essential space for discovery, reflection, and understanding.
My present work explores the intersection of care, healing, and vulnerability through materiality, particularly in relation to medical and first aid materials. Through collage, I engage with images, textures, and objects that evoke themes of containment, support, and repair. Collage, with its layered, fragmentary nature, mirrors the process of tending to wounds—both physical and emotional—by bringing disparate elements together into new relationships.
I source materials from medical imagery, vintage instructional drawings, and everyday ephemera, weaving these elements into compositions that explore ambiguity and transformation. The act of cutting, tearing, and layering reflects the processes of both injury and mending, creating a visual language that questions binaries of harm and healing, sterility and contamination, concealment and exposure. My use of collage extends beyond two-dimensional surfaces into assemblage and sculptural forms, incorporating bandages, linens, and objects associated with care.
I am particularly interested in how touch, intimacy, and acts of care are mediated through materials. The textures of fabric, paper, and adhesives suggest tenderness and constraint, inviting reflection on the complex dynamics of giving and receiving care. I draw from Jungian and archetypal psychology, exploring how wounds—literal and metaphorical—can serve as sites of transformation.
By working across media, I seek to create a dialogue between the physical and the imaginal, the personal and the collective. My collages and assemblages function as meditations on care, resilience, and the traces of human presence, holding together contradictions within a space of tension and possibility.
The Hermit (2025)
analogue collage using found materials
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
The Hermit (2025) replaces the human figure from the painting The Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog (1818) with a microscope. Microscopes are used to observe and analyse, which helps transform the work from the solitude of existentialism to a form of technological estrangement. This, therefore, creates a reflection of solitude and vulnerability within the context of technology. The Romanticist landscape within the work is set upon this microscope, which, which looks like it is displaced in this scene. The machine that analyses and examines has now become magnified by this collage and the viewer as they look upon it.
VIEW THE FULL REVIEW HERE.
delia
zorzoliu
ABOUT SOLITUDE:
These three artworks of mine reflect solitude in different poses and in different forms, both human and in the form of static elements from nature. Solitude overflows both in the human soul and in the forgotten tree trunk in the middle of the forest. Meditation, lack of love or abandonment is a form of solitude.
Delia Zorzoliu is a painter, writer, graphic designer and illustrator born on March 28, 1987 in Bucharest, Romania and settled in Southampton, Great Britain.
Delia Zorzoliu is a member of the Artists’ Union of England, a member of the Writers’ Union of Great Britain and vice-president of the League of Romanian Writers “Eugen Ionescu” – Olt branch in Romania.
In addition to painting, Delia is also the author of children’s books and novels. Delia illustrated some of her own books and made covers and illustrations for the books of other Romanian and international authors.
The artist has so far organized four large personal exhibitions of classical art, digital art and book illustrations at prestigiouses art galleries in Romania and has participated in numerous group exhibitions at art galleries in Great Britain (in London, Halifax, Suffolk, Sheffield , Cheriton, Briglington), but also in Georgia at Tabilisi.
Delia has published numerous paintings and interviews in art catalogs in Great Britain, Romania and Georgia.
The artist has numerous works in Romanian state collections at prestigious county museum institutions. In her works, Delia uses various mediums depending on her mood. She used acrylic colors, oil colors, but also mixed media, transferring the emotions represented by color to the canvas.
Each of the artist’s paintings is unique and full of life, her paintings being inspired by the artist’s feelings.
“I close my eyes and paint feelings. I let myself be carried away by what I have in my soul at the time and I paint my experiences. I paint the feeling of emotion, sadness, love, joy, suffering, putting in that painting all the emotional charge, for that painting for me is actually what I have in my soul.” -Delia Zorzoliu
Contemplation (2023)
Mixed Media
This artwork represents man’s communion with nature and his need to be alone to meditate quietly, in a remote place.
Love (2025)
Digital Art
The need for love leads to loneliness. A person without love is lonely. This painting reflects the human need for love. This artwork is digitally painted in mixed media technique.
Forgotten (2023)
Mixed Media
This artwork is about the forgotten trees whose root was left alone by the trunk in the middle of the forest. The solitude is oppressive but at the same time the sun brings a wave of hope.
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
Contemplation (2023) is a bold and expressive mixed-media work with chaotically layered textures. A figure seems to emerge from this layering just below the contrasting red—the figure looks as though it is reflecting on itself. This meditation is happening around what looks to be flora and birds, thus nature, which implies human relations to the natural world. The red area in the background in the top part of the artwork accentuates the birds flying around and the figure below.
VIEW THE FULL REVIEW HERE.
INTERVIEW WITH DELIA ZORZOLIU:
What inspired you to create the work Contemplation (2023)?
The inspiration for the work “Contemplation” came from the idea of silence as an inner finding, but also from the connection between man and nature, silence being transposed through the idea of solitude. The balance of this artwork was restored through colour.
About the work; you mention “man’s communion with nature.”, how do you personally interpret this relationship and how did it contribute to the creation of the work?
Every day, we humans are “in communion with nature”, both on a physical and a deep level, whether we interact with a tree or a flower, or something unexpected in nature awakens an inner state in us. The feelings I had when I created this painting led to this result, a work that highlights, in my own style, this “communion of man with nature”.
As you’ve mentioned in your statement that you paint feelings – are these paintings finished in one session or do you revisit paintings when you have different emotion and does it lead to something else?
Most of my works are painted when I experience a very deep inner feeling, that is, in a so-called state of mind, without going with a specific idea in mind. I simply paint what I feel at that moment. Each work is completed in a single session. I never return to a work to make changes related to the idea, but only to retouch it related to accents, lighting, etc. For this reason, I have never painted two identical works.
Love (2025) stands out as digital whereas the other two works in this publication are mixed media- can you take us through the process of both styles of work? How do they differ and what is the thought process behind each form of medium?
The working process between digital and mixed media is not very different. In essence, the digital work “Love” was also created through a mixed technique, but as on a tablet, combining different brushes, textures and media, such as oil, charcoal, watercolour and acrylic. The difference is that in the digital work I used more types of brushes and media than in the classic works, in which I used only acrylic colours and oil pastels.
In the digital work there is no thought process related to the shape of the medium; I use them as if the tablet screen were a real canvas. In addition, they sell so much media in one place that it is much easier to use. In the classic paintings I usually use acrylic colours because they dry much easier than oil colours, but I like to combine them with oil pastels, charcoal or inks.
You mention in the description that “the need for love leads to loneliness” can you explain more on this idea and have you explored this in other works? Do you plan on exploring this idea more?
We humans, if we are deprived of love, can sometimes feel alone. Love has many forms and can be perceived or transposed in different ways when it comes to creation. “The need for love leads to loneliness”, because a person deprived of love can feel alone. I have also explored the idea of love, or loneliness, in other works, but in different forms, and I will probably address these themes in the future.
What first inspired you to create art and how has your journey been since you started?
I started drawing when I was two years old. I drew various things, and looking at them now, I realise that they were not just simple lines. My inspiration was my grandfather, Traian Zorzoliu, who was a painter.
I drew almost all the time until I grew up. Then there was a break of a few years, during which I spent more time writing poems, children’s books and short stories. I started painting again in 2019, after my grandfather’s death. I felt that this is what he would have wanted me to do. I bought an easel, paints and canvases, and that was it.
I felt then that it was my duty to continue painting, to carry on his name and work, being the only one in our family who still paints, for now. After doing this, I know it seems strange, but I felt my grandfather at peace where he is. Sometimes, the brush flies out of my hand when I want to put a certain colour or draw a certain line, a sign that I’m not doing what I want to do well. I joke that my grandfather hits my hands when I don’t paint well.
In what ways have your Romanian roots and your life here in the UK shaped your creative practice and the themes you explore in your work?
I am a person who likes rain and gloomy weather. I don’t hate the sun, but I can’t say I love it either, but I prefer it to be hidden in the clouds. The weather in the UK helps me a lot in the creative process. Since I was little, I wanted to live in a place with a lot of rain.
Even though I now live here in the UK, I haven’t forgotten my roots, and I try to translate them into my works through the different themes I choose for my personal exhibitions, such as the Neolithic theme in the territory of Romania or Romanian folklore. I have also approached themes from the Neolithic of Great Britain by researching and exploring the history of these places, and I will continue to do so in the future. But in principle, in my works I more often approach themes related to still life or landscapes from the imagination.
How do you see your practice evolving in the next part of this decade and the future? Any projects you want to share here?
Every day I try to evolve and approach different themes to explore as much as possible. My practice will certainly change in the future precisely because of this desire to explore. Currently, for this year I am preparing two large personal exhibitions in Romania, with different themes related to theatre and history, and for next year I plan to do other personal exhibitions with different themes than these two, but I am still thinking about them; they are not set.
YEWBOWART
I am on inspired both by Nature, wildlife, and human behaviour; I am in solitude. I feel deeply about the deep loneliness in society. It ranges from both young to old. I joined the campaign against loneliness.
The Deep loneliness of Society (2023)
Digital Art
Depiction of the deep loneliness of society. It affects both young and old. It affects you in a crowd or when you are alone.
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
The Deep Loneliness of Society (2023) explores loneliness reflects on how society has become both connected in the digital age yet also isolated. The figures are faceless and are wearing different coloured clothes implying a different identity for each one all together yet they are in a crowd but still lonely. The facelessness allows the viewer to insert themselves into the artwork as loneliness, within all generations, is a very universal emotion that has become more prevalent with the digital age.
VIEW THE FULL REVIEW HERE.
Interview with Yewbowart
In the work you explore the emotion of loneliness- what inspired you explore this emotion?
I felt more lonely when my daughter left home. I am a single parent. I work with older people. I have experienced loneliness first hand, and saw the effects of loneliness on others. I joined the campaign against loneliness to help.
Do you believe that art has the power to reverse or reduce the feelings of loneliness? If so, how?
I have seen how art therapy can help people in my work, and experienced it for myself. It brings people together.
Surrounding loneliness- have you received any reactions to your work that surrounds this theme that have surprised you?
People have liked the work but not commented. Loneliness I think most people can relate to, but to admit it is not easy.
Is there any advice you would like to give to other artists who want to spread awareness of loneliness?
My advice listen and show interest in other people because everyone is important.
Can you take us through the process of how you created the work?
I created this artwork using my right forefinger on my mobile phone with an painting app. I used different colours to highlight that people are individual. I used tools that smudged, to create the effect.
In your statement you mentioned that you are inspired by nature, wildlife and the human behaviour. How do these influences help shape your work?
Nature and wildlife are a solace of mine. Working with people has given me an empathy and an insight, and interactions I might not have had otherwise.
What do you hope that viewers will take from your work?
I want people to believe that they are seen and heard despite how they alone they feel. I want people to realise that being lonely is not a stigma it’s the society and the culture we are living in. Let’s change it by saying hello to our neighbours.
How do you see your practice evolving in the next part of this decade and the future? Any projects you want to share here?
I would like to leave a message for future generations to question and think for yourself about life. I also want to create tranquillity and hope through my art.
PAUL
TRANTER
ABOUT SOLITUDE:
‘Walking Home’ is an artwork of two parts, consisting of a walk through the landscape and a digital print made in response to the walk. Much of my practice is based in my local landscape. I often travel through that landscape on foot or by bicycle and usually alone. Travelling alone allows me to absorb myself in the landscape and take in its beauty both visually and aurally.
Walking over the moors I seldom meet any other people and that heightens the sense of power in the landscape. The power of the rocks, of the moorland vegetation, of the birds and animals that thrive in that landscape. I love to just stand and listen to the moors, usually with the wind as orchestral accompaniment. ‘Walking Home’ was a simple act of catching the bus to Ilkley and walking home.
Paul Tranter is a multi-media artist who’s work is inspired by the the landscape and the often hidden geological and anthropological histories that shape what we see.
Paul’s practice spans sculpture, performance, photography, video, print making and artist’s books. Much of Paul’s work takes place in the landscape, often with the artist himself as the only audience for his on-site installations. These works though are translated into artist’s books or digitally printed images that cross the boundary between documentary and primary artwork. Paul’s current work is in support of his PhD studies ‘The Uncertainty of Landscape’, a PhD by practice that Paul is undertaking at the Leeds School of Arts.
Walking Home (2024)
Digital Print
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
Walking Home (2024) is framed with a white background and introduces the viewer with red text: “Nine miles, 1,335 feet of ascent, 3 hours 7 minutes, Highest point 1,259 feet.” Between the title and these units lies a documentative image of the landscape—it is atmospheric and brings us to the horizon with the gravel path.
VIEW THE FULL REVIEW HERE.
Interview with PAUL TRANTER
You mention that you travel alone through the landscapes; how does this solitude influence your perception of the natural world?
It gives me the freedom to focus on what is around me. It means I can connect with nature through both sight and sound without any interruptions. I might be looking at the geology, the shape of the hills, wondering what birds I can hear calling. Sometimes that might simply be the act of standing still, closing my eyes and listening to the silence.
Do you ever encounter anything unexpected on these walks? Has this ever changed the course of an artwork?
All the time. A lot of unexpected encounters are with marks left by people in the landscape. There are lots of Neolithic and Bronze Age markings on the rocks around Wharfedale but also more recent imprints on the landscape. There are old boundary stones dating back to the 1600s, benchmarks carved into rocks and of course drystone walls that tell the story of enclosures and forced migration off the land.
One project I’m currently working on is inspired by the old flagstones placed on the moor to prevent footpath erosion. These come from old Victorian Mills and have marks that tell of their recent human past, but also the geological time they were formed on the ocean floor millions of years ago.
Why do you choose to have the inclusion of the data in Walking Home (2024)?
The data describes the walk. If you are able to read the data then hopefully it creates a picture of the time, effort and nature of the landscape that I travelled through.
You mention the ‘power’ of the landscapes, its rocks, vegetation and wildlife. How do you think the presence of humans changes or interacts with that power?
My impression after many years walking and cycling through West and North Yorkshire is the resilience of nature. The power to survive endless interventions by people and to keep recovering from the extraction, destruction and interference that seems never ending. The natural world just seems more powerful than us.
What does ‘home’ mean to you in the context of the work?
Home in this context is where I live, my house, my home. To make the walk I simply caught the bus to Ilkley, and walked home.
How do you hope that viewers will interact with this work, do you want them to see it as a documentation or something that invites them to do a similar journey or something else?
If I put any expectations on the viewer on how I wish them to respond, then I will be setting myself up to fail. All I hope is that they have an emotional response to the piece, but what that response is will depend on what they bring to the encounter.
How do you decide upon which landscape interactions you’ve had become documented works? Are there any specific qualities to these experiences that need to be had to become a documentative work?
In the case of this work it was the emotionally comforting feeling I got of knowing I was walking home. On one level, that act suggested the title and it felt like a good piece to make. I’m always taking photographs when I’m out on walks and this one resonated as I personally get a sense of mystery, of not quite knowing where the path is leading or what might be beyond the horizon. But hopefully it is taking me home.
Have there been any surprising reactions you’ve had from a viewer of your work and can you share their reaction?
Not so far. The main reactions have been that shared idea of comfort in heading home. That does seem to be a universally shared emotion.
JEMIMA
CHARRETT-DYKES
ABOUT SOLITUDE:
Body as Home is a series of photographs that I made when considering how my body stores trauma. It is about finding home within yourself and spending time alone and with your own thoughts. Body as Home reflects on how one can hold their own space within their body, relying on the “self” for creating a home within yourself.
Jemima Charrett-Dykes is an artist whose output is primarily autobiographical, drawing from experiences in childhood and the aftermaths of psychosis as a result of Complex Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Using art-making as a therapeutic outlet, Jemima’s work often references her past and the traumas linked to her body both physically and mentally. She operates across multiple mediums, all of which are thematically linked through visions of childhood, the female body and exploration of “The Self” and psyche as the main subject.
Body as Home (2023)
Silver gelatin print
Body As Home is a triptych of photographs that considers the concept of a home, feeling safety and what that means in the context of trauma. The body is with a person throughout both mental and physical strain, and is a vessel that can subconsciously be disregarded as a result of trauma and mental disturbance, often being consequently disregarded or incapacitated. Body As Home is a reminder that the body is a sanctuary, a holding space for feeling and something that should, in the first instance, be loved and held.
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
The triptych series Body As Home (2023) presents the fragile relationship between body, trauma, and the self. Using silver gelatin photography, the work is black-and-white monochrome, which allows us to examine the light and shadow within the work, which are integral in the creation of a home within yourself as the light focuses on the body.
VIEW THE FULL REVIEW HERE.
INTERVIEW WITH JEMIMA CHARRETT-DYKES:
Can you talk about the lighting choice in the work and how they help to contribute to the message and emotional weight of the images.
I love the readymade and harnessing natural lighting within my photography, especially in a series which is raw in expressing feelings and memories. It would feel jarring to use artificial lighting in a project that is speaking to the natural houses that we call our bodies. I love high contrast, natural lighting and used the light coming into my apartment to highlight my body in these images. I wanted to emphasise the details of the body whilst making the background as ambiguous as possible, really the only focus needs to be the anatomy and the context in which I’m aiming to discuss the themes in he series.
You mention that the work is autobiographical and deeply connected to experiences of psychosis and C-PTSD. How did the making of this series serve as a form of self-exploration for you?
After reading ‘The Body Keeps the Score’ a few years ago, I’ve been really conscious of how trauma not only effects our mental health, but physical health, too. So much tension is held within the body and I really didn’t realise this until I started to fully explore how trauma transpires in this way. Since realising that healing meant making the decision to look after my body as well as my mental health, I’ve made huge strides toward getting ‘better.’ When making this series, I wanted to explore how trauma can often leave a person feeling like they don’t belong, and that this often results in feelings of disassociation. It’s really important to me to feel safe and comfortable wherever I am, but feeling safe and at home in myself was the first step to making this happen. It is my hope that, despite outside fear and worry, or where I might be, I can always feel at home within myself and provide myself comfort in that way.
What role does solitude play in your healing process? How is this reflected in the visual language of the series?
I think that the appreciation of solitude and the ability to be alone is essential for anyone, whether they are embarking on a healing journey or not. It’s really easy to be constant and never slowing down, especially with phones and social media which can create a constant need for instant validation. I don’t think that my healing journey really started until I made the conscious decision to slow down and take time to reflect and sit with my thoughts. Of course, when I paint I am completely in my own world in my studio, processing feelings and expressing myself in that way. I would really struggle to create if I was around others. In this particular series, I was exploring solitude and the feeling of acceptance and home one can find within themselves when they are in tune with their own body. The body is a vessel that we are always inside, and I think that a lot can be credited to taking care of yourself and granting yourself credit for that. Feeling at home in your own body is so important.
During the creation of the series, was there a moment that felt especially significant or emotional for you?
When shooting on film, the most significant (and nerve racking) moment is always developing the images, because I really can’t be sure if the concept has worked until then. I think being unable to see the pictures that I’m taking adds to the rawness of the imagery, though. I’ve always struggled with perfectionism when it comes to my artwork and removing the ability to look at my photographs as I shoot has really helped with focusing on what I’m trying to discuss within my work rather than adjusting everything until I get a picture that is more focused on looking good than illustrating the themes. Whether I am working with photography, painting, or making ceramics, the most emotional moments come before I begin the piece. Each series I make is borne from feeling heavy emotions and wanting to address them and explore them, so sitting with these feelings as I start the piece and deciding how I’m going to express the difficult feelings is always the heaviest emotional part of creating.
What do you hope viewers take away from this series?
As with all of my projects, I hope that I have left enough space for an audience to find a part of my work that they can relate to on some personal level. Although my work centres around my experience with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Psychosis, it is my hope that viewers who haven’t had direct experiences with trauma or mental illness may still find themes within the imagery that they can apply their own experiences to, thus offering opportunity for a rhetoric regarding the themes that I am exploring within my output. CPTSD is a diagnosis that is still widely misunderstood- a lot of the time it is presumed that a trauma diagnosis is earned through seeing war or being ‘shell shocked’. The symptoms of PTSD don’t just include a dislike for loud noises or trouble sleeping. In reality, trauma can come from experiences far closer to home and can be so deeply woven into daily life that they become ingrained in the normal behaviour of those who suffer from it. In this series, I wanted to express how trauma not only causes mental disturbance, but physical, too. I hope that viewers of my work are able to understand a little more how trauma effects the every day, and that viewers are able to empathise with those who suffer trauma a little more.
What advice would you give to other artists who want to use their practice as a means of processing trauma and self-discovery?
My first answer to this question is always the same- just create. I think that a lot of people want to use art as a therapeutic method, but don’t know where to begin. I was the same before I started painting. I knew the potential in using art to process but had preconceived ideas about not being good enough to be an artist. When I let go of those inhibitions it became really easy to create. I often have a certain feeling or memory at the forefront of my mind- usually one I would struggle to articulate or feels too big to try to put into words or write down- and I start making from there. Photography is a great way to process things, especially if you’re working within self portraiture. I find it really helpful to see myself as the subject of my imagery. It’s almost as if I’m separating myself from the person within the photographs, which helps to process certain memories or experiences from further away, which is a lot less confrontational.
Where do you see your art in the coming years? Any upcoming projects?
I’ve been slowly putting together a book that includes poetry, photography and some archival imagery, focused around the theme of home. There’s still a long way to go with that, and in the meantime I hope to keep painting and expressing myself through my work. I’ve nearly been freelance for a year already, and I’m finding it so fulfilling to be included as part of exhibitions around Europe and creating personal commissions. The long term goal would be getting the opportunity to exhibit my work in a solo show one day.
EMILY
CARNEY
ABOUT SOLITUDE:
The two pieces I am submitting relate to solitude through their subject and themes. The painting, “Red Sky at Morning” was inspired by a colourful sky I saw whilst waiting in an empty car park early one morning last year, with no one else around. The second piece I am submitting was inspired by the film Lost In Translation, which is all about loneliness and striving to connect with others, as exemplified by the experience of the character Charlotte depicted in my illustration.
I am an artist living in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. My work is inspired by comic book art and animated films primarily, but I also like to produce both traditional and abstract pieces from time to time. I primarily paint, draw and make dioramas, I often try to use some element of recycled materials in my work (this might involve building a diorama using pieces of scrap wood or card, or repainting an old secondhand canvas) as I like to promote renewability and I enjoy the challenge of essentially “taking an object and turning it into something else”.
Red Sky at Morning (2025)
Acrylic on Canvas
A painting inspired by a colourful sky I was lucky enough to view in an empty car park. The colours were fleeting as the sun came up quite soon after I’d left the car park, but it was nice in the moment to feel like one of the few people up at that time seeing such a sight.
“I have to be leaving but I won’t let that come between us” (2025)
Watercolour and ink on paper (unframed)
A comic book-style illustration inspired by the film Lost In Translation. The film and the character Charlotte still resonate with me today despite the movie being over 20 years old, as I think the loneliness and feeling of not knowing what to do with your life that Charlotte feels throughout the story is something that is relatable for many people. I chose to scribble down this particular scene as I found the contrast of the character being in motion/transit while feeling stuck and isolated emotionally to be one of particular interest.
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
Red Sky At Morning (2025) captures the extreme colour of the early morning sky as the sun rises. The scene is quite personal as it is set from Carney’s viewpoint and car- which puts the viewer in the same spot where she had witnessed this sky. It is quite an impressive moment as the reds dominate the sky and the landscape as its light reflects onto the ground, creating a vibrant natural light. Due to its concentration on the early morning sky, the scene itself is very meditative, grounds the viewer with the environment, and connects them to their surroundings.
VIEW THE FULL REVIEW HERE.
INTERVIEW WITH EMILY CARNEY:
Can you describe the moment that you experienced that inspired Red Sky at Morning? (2025) – what emotions and thoughts where you experiencing during this?
The inspiration for Red Sky at Morning came when I was lucky enough to see a fantastic sunrise early one December morning inlate 2024. I was in an Asda car park with my sister at the time and when I saw how cool the sky looked I was immediately inspired to paint something based on it as the colours had me in awe.
How do you feel the theme of solitude interacting with often usually busy human spaces as in the space you captured in the painting?
I think even the most busy/populated of spaces can have pockets of solitude and it can be kind of fun as an artist to try and keep an eye out for little anomalies like that and then reflect them in your work. While the word “solitude” might conjure up a feeling of isolation for some people, I think finding moments of quiet in environments that aren’t generally thought of as peaceful can be quite comforting in a weird sort of way.
Are there any emotions that you want viewers to feel as they look at the painting?
I would like viewers to feel a sense of peace when they look at the painting, maybe it might even remind them of unexpectedly pretty sunrise, sunset or other occurrence that they might have experienced themselves.
You describe the contrast of physically being in transit while being emotional stuck as a key theme- what about this paradoxical concept interests you in “I have to be leaving but I won’t let that come between us” (2025)?
I think the main thing that interests me personally about this concept is how relatable it is, as I’m sure lots of us have had those moments when we’re on a bus or train with our music playing, watching the world go by and ruminating over something, perhaps an event or situation that could be quite emotionally difficult. Personally even though I’ve had plenty of those moments where I’ve felt emotionally trapped while technically being on the move/in transit physically, I think these spaces can be a good place to reflect and sometimes even quite relaxing when you’re having a hard time.
How do you think this piece speaks to people who haven’t watched Lost in Translation?
I think people who haven’t seen Lost in Translation could still pick up on the feeling of loneliness from the piece, the colour palette uses a lot of sombre grey tones and the only company Charlotte has is her reflection in the train window, which could definitely speak to people who may have found themselves in a similar situation.
Your artistic influence, in that work, is inspired by comic book illustration style. Do you ever consider expanding on a piece or this influence by creating a short series of works?
Yes, I am currently in the midst of finishing a bumper-length comic book that I’ve written and illustrated, although that project is a bit more light-hearted than this particular piece! Lost in Translation is such a visually enchanting film that I could certainly see the potential for doing some more illustrations inspired by it, although I could probably say that for any of Sofia Coppola’s films to be honest!
Can you take us through the creative process of both works? How did the work change from start to finish?
Red Sky at Morning was painted over the course of a couple of days right at the the beginning of this year, when we’d had a particularly heavy snowfall and I was unable to leave the house, so I thought I might as well make the most of it and get painting! It began just with a few rough pencil sketches of the car bonnet, the fences etc and then I started adding some layers of paint with just the basic colours. After they’d dried I painted another layer of colour and then added all the details with acrylic paint pens, which I’m very fond of using.
As for the other piece, I’d re-watched Lost in Translation the day before and had scribbled a few illustration ideas down based on some of the scenes on it (the scene where Charlotte is sitting on the hotel windowsill overlooking Tokyo was also an idea I had toyed with). It started with a basic pencil sketch, which I then painted with watercolours and added all the details in with a fine brush and black ink. The inking stage was when it really started to come alive, I think when it comes to illustration and comic book-style art sometimes the importance of how much difference inking can make can be quite underappreciated, especially by people who might not be regular comic readers.
How do you see you artistic style or techniques changing in the future? Do you plan on experimenting with different themes or mediums?
I certainly take a lot of influence from films so I suppose a lot of my future projects will depend on what movies I decide to watch! I recently started following a Reddit group based around oil pastels, the work there is incredible and that’s certainly a medium I’d like to try again as I don’t think I’ve used them since I was at school. I also make dioramas and I’ve got also sorts of bits and bobs that I’ve been collecting over the past few months to use in model making projects (including some mini Pokémon figures, grass/woodland scenery and an array of small Christmas tree and aquarium decorations) so I’d certainly like to get back on board with that.
FIONA
LYNN
ABOUT SOLITUDE:
My work mainly deals with haunted and abandoned places and spaces within Scotland, a lot of these buildings or areas are cut off, isolated and left to rot, yet I still feel a presence within them whether it be human or not.
Fiona Lynn is a visual artist based in Scotland. Graduating from Edinburgh College of Art in 2011 with a BA(Hons) in Fine Art specialising in Sculpture, her work has been displayed in various exhibitions and publications. Fiona’s work mainly deals with the paranormal and haunted locations within Scotland. She explores these areas gathering research photos and sketches which then develop into her finished pieces. She uses her own experience with the paranormal and channels the energy she feels in these spaces into her dark and expressive works.
Cold Hands (2024)
Photography
Photo of Abandoned house.
Cold Hands (2024)
Photography
Photo of Abandoned house.
Blair Street Vaults (2024)
Photography
Photo of Blair Street Vaults Edinburgh
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
Cold Hands (2024) is a pair of two photographs (seen above and below each other in the publication) that are thematically about abandonment, neglect, and desolation in a place that may have a spiritual presence to them. The atmosphere in this haunted house creates a feeling of uneasiness, intensifying the feeling of a presence within this place even more and creating the unsettling character that abandoned places often have. The first image (the one above within the publication) has an open doorway in which its frame has become weathered and cracked. There are scattered papers on the ground that could suggest that the place had been abandoned in haste.
VIEW THE FULL REVIEW HERE.
Interview with fiona lynn
What inspired and influenced you originally to haunted and abandoned places? How do you choose a location to use in your work? Are there any specific qualities to a haunted or abandoned place you look for?
I have always felt a deep connection to the paranormal world and had many experiences starting from childhood. I feel drawn to certain spaces and am fascinated by the different atmospheres and emptiness that are left behind after ‘life’ leaves these places. I feel like capturing them in my work is my way of documenting them. I either explore places I know about or hear about from people in my life and am interested in the stories or other peoples experiences within or they are stumbled upon. While I am most drawn to derelict or decaying spaces they don’t always have to be this state, again it is more about what I can feel and channel in the space.
Can you describe and explain the presences you feel in this abandoned and haunted places?
Sometimes I purely feel the presence of a person, or people which I interpret as paranormal, I sometimes feel watched and listened to, and sometimes can sense emotions within these spaces. But also sometimes I feel nothing, which I also want to capture as it is such a strange feeling to be in a building or space that is like an empty vessel.
Have you ever had a personal paranormal experience in one of these locations? If so how did it affect your creative practice?
Some of my latest pieces I’m exploring memories of my Auntie Cathy’s house which I visited in childhood, and it was in this house that I had some of my first paranormal encounters. I saw a cloaked figure over my sisters bed while she slept, I heard footsteps and always felt watched, and we both had a strange experience where we saw a shadow creature out in her garden. These memories are from decades ago so faded and I feel through creating pieces on the house I am tapping into my memories of the place which can sometimes be mixed up with my nightmares.
While photographing the Blair Street Vaults (2024) did you have any paranormal experiences with the place? If not, have you experienced any paranormal activity while in the act of taking a photograph of other locations?
Within the vaults there is a chamber which has been named ‘The Watcher’ and I felt very drawn to this space but with a negative feeling, I sat drawing here the longest, absolutely felt I was being watched and followed while in the space and the corner I felt it. It mostly smelled of decomposition. In other locations I have captured orbs on film and unexplainable lights.
Your work uses an eerie green atmosphere, this seems to increase the hauntedness of the place? What led you to use this colour in these works originally?
The green colour within my work has been a gradual but not intentional element, I used to only work with blacks and greys and didn’t notice for a while that everything I edited was becoming green and I only use 3 colours of oil paint now, titanium white, Mars black and peryenne green. It hasn’t been an intentional thing but I do think it adds to the atmosphere, and wonder if the green could be echoing from the decay and rot in some of the places I explore.
How do you hope viewers will respond to your work and can you describe a memorable moment of a viewer’s reaction to your work?
I hope to invoke a feeling of hopelessness, fear, isolation and uncertainty within my work. I want the viewer to feel what I feel in the spaces or maybe have my work trigger a memory from a nightmare.
A very memorable moment was at an art fair a few years ago I was displaying my work and a group of older ladies came to take a closer look but recoiled with fear and disgust after seeing some of my prints.
Are there any haunted or abandoned locations you plan on exploring in your work next?
Next on my list is Bannockburn House near Stirling, I am waiting on some work being finished in the house before I can get inside, I am also planning a trip and private tour of the Catacombs in Paris to draw in, and have seen a decaying barn at the side of the road near where my grandparents used to stay I plan on photographing.
You mentioned that you gather research photographs and sketches before developing your final piece. Can you take us through the process from the research photographs and sketches to the finished work?
So within the space I look to capture 2 things, photographs I can edit into finished pieces, and the areas where I feel the most activity. I usually will do drawings from the second group to further explore what I felt and the atmosphere I want to capture. Then when I am moving sketches onto paintings I tend to get obsessed with the same spot and will do around 10-20 paintings of the area until I feel I have captured it. At the moment my obsession is a derelict house I photographed which I have done 9 paintings of so far.
EVA
MARSCHAN-HAYES
ABOUT SOLITUDE:
Solitude, to me, refers to spending time alone and not being affected and/or distracted by other peoples’ energies. As an artist this is an essential part of my process, and it corresponds with most of the themes that evolve from my work. The series of images I am presenting here, refer to the notion of solitude as the richness of self (May Sarton) and beyond as a path to spiritual awakening.
Eva Marschan-Hayes is an artist, researcher and poet based in Lewes, UK. She works mainly with photography and digital manipulation often in combination with traditional media including painting, drawing and assemblage.
Eva’s artistic work is driven by her curiosity, love to play and a deep connectiveness she feels with nature and “all there is” Natural light gets her especially excited. Eva describes this as often feeling at awe, witnessing from one moment to the other, on how light transforms, shapes, textures, colours, and mood.
Her poems form an essential aspect of her work, corresponding with her imagery, exploring consciousness, memory and self -experienced spirituality. Eva’s work is further informed by Carl Gustav Jung and her extensive research on individuals who have documented their own spiritual experiences.
Since 2018 Eva has been involved in national, continental and online group exhibitions and some local solo shows. She has been part of a variety of collaborative projects, including journal and book publications and academic research.
Day Dreaming (2025)
Drawing/photography/digital
To daydream, we need to be in solitude. The person on the image is walking with their dog through a grey, cloudy space, towards a beach. In contrast to the greyish muddled colours,the path he steps on is yellow, almost golden. He walks towards the light, into the world of his imagination.
The power of Imagination (2023)
Oil painting/photography/digital
Solitude provides us with a space to get in touch with our boundless imagination and inner creator. Patrick Howe’s quote, below, further encapsulates what I seek to express with this image: “I began awakening to the infinite creative source that was beyond my awareness yet flowed through me. It is the same creative energy I realized, that has created all forms of life, and the universe.”
Between the Worlds (2022)
Oil crayons/photography/digital printed on fine art paper
As part of the image, I used a photo taken at a pond in Virginia Woolf’s Monks House Garden in Rodmell. I lay near the pond smiling at the sky. The colours and atmosphere of the artwork have been inspired by William Blake’s work. “Between the worlds” explores extraordinary states of consciousness. Such states can best be experienced in solitude. I leave it to the viewer how they construe and/or experience the image. It may be a space where we expand our imagination. It may be a space of healing; It may be a space where we tune into higher energetic frequencies and dimensions; It may be an out of body experience; It may be a space where we just feel at peace with all there is. It may be some or all of these.
Inside Journey (2022)
Photography/digital
Solitude provides us with a space in which we are able to disconnect from the superficial, the noise and the clutter. Instead, we can travel inside, to evolve a deeper understanding of our selves and spiritual essence. The latter is true for me but not necessarily the experience of everyone. In my own interpretation, the image, depicts the density and fragility of matter and lightness of our spiritual body.
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
Day Dreaming (2025) is a mix of digital, photography, and drawing- in that it is a journey of the man and his dog towards a daydream while in solitude on a walk. A golden path emerges before the man and the dog, bringing them towards this light of their imaginations, leaving the physicality of this world and allowing them to explore the dream as they walk within our world. Thus, this path divides reality and what man imagines, which seems to be either a vast ocean or a vast swathe of snow.
VIEW THE FULL REVIEW HERE.
INTERVIEW WITH EVA MARSCHAN-HAYES:
Can you share a bit about your background – what first inspired you to do art?
I have been passionate about art throughout my life. During childhood I created detailed, colourful drawings, inspired by fairy tales, poetry, biblical paintings, and my vivid imagination.
In The Power of Imagination (2023) it seems to present an ascension to a higher place or a spiritual feel to it- do you see creativity as a spiritual act?
I have learned through a variety of experiences (made throughout my life) and other people who share these, that Consciousness is the driving force of all existence. In essence we are all soul fragments of ONE consciousness we originate from. We are all manifesters and creators not just as artists. Anything we generate from our consciousness: imagination, thoughts and feelings can work as manifesting energies. In the “Power of Imagination” I seek to express these experiences.
How do you view the relationship between art and spirituality?
Spirituality is one aspect of how I experience the world. Related themes naturally flow into my art. You can find more out about these, in Lorraine Tolmie’s free ebook Crossing-Thresholds The book “shares the stories of nine artists, gathered during a research project exploring visual art and non-ordinary states of consciousness” (L.T)
https://www.lorrainetolmie.com/crossing-thresholds
In Day Dreaming (2025) the image is showcasing a journey; was there a specific moment that inspired this work? What does the act of walking while daydreaming represent in this piece to you?
I spent an afternoon doing some drawing (with no thoughts or theme attached) Then I found a photo I had recently taken on the beach. I combined the two images and immediately a theme emerged. The walking figure can be seen as a metaphor for taking a journey into their/her/his inner world. For me the person in the image is breaking through the wall of their rational mind and is walking into a space of dreams and imagination.
Your work often includes multiple mediums -can you describe how you merge these mediums together in your work? Is there a process to choosing multiple mediums that will work with the work?
As exemplified above, my process is spontaneous, intuitive and playful. Initially I have no concrete plan or idea where my work will lead to. So, there is no plan, or step by step approach involved. I may start with a painting and then choose from an archive of photos or other work, previously created. I play with different layers, using a post shutter double exposure technique until a theme emerges and I feel satisfied. Sometimes I use additional digital software, to refine the work. All my completed works are digital prints.
Since starting art, has your creative process changed over time? If so, how?
My artistic development is tied with my personal development. As a young adult I used art to work through childhood traumas and healing. During this period, I experimented with a range of mediums, including oils, acrylic and photography. My earlier works have often been referred to as “landscapes of the soul”
After a long period of introspection, I embarked on an academic journey. It ended with a PhD in socio-legal studies and a short term post-doctoral position. After this I felt bereft. At the same time, other major shifts happened in my life, my mum in Germany was dying and I became a full-time carer for my daughter. Once again, I turned to my old friend art to help me cope. To my surprise, I noticed a shift in my creative practice, from introspection into playful spontaneity, inspired by the natural world and the beauty of light. Since I have mainly been working with photography in combination with other mediums.
Over the last four years I have used short poems to accompany my visual works, exploring memory, emotions, consciousness, spirituality and identity. Writing serves as a tool for me to explore my work in more depth and to offer viewers an authentic interpretation.
How do you see you artistic style or techniques changing in the future? Do you plan on experimenting with different themes or mediums?
I intend to expand my digital skills and to experiment with film and with sound(s). My vision is to create little film clips, incorporating spoken words (poems) sounds, movements, and imagery.
Have any viewers shared an interesting interpretation of your work or have you been surprised by a viewers response to your work?
Over the years I have been receiving many interesting responses and interpretation at local exhibitions and on social media. An outstanding one has been by a French curator responding to a series of my earlier photographic works “Parallel Dreams “ (2017) She reposted the series on her FB feet with an eloquently written interpretation, including individual images. In her introduction she wrote: “Eva Marschan-Hayes work is proof that the field of photography is as wide as that of a dream and that it is an irresistible invitation to walk off field, into the territory of the imaginary…………”
CRISIA
CONSTANTINE
ABOUT SOLITUDE:
My body of works explores the idea of being ‘in solitudeʼ, and the associated transience of human life. The images evoke a sense of alienation and longing. They capture their subjects in quiet moments of solitude, loneliness or nostalgia. The cityscapes, representing deserted cities, further the conversations on solitude and its duality, that can be both healing and harmful.
A graduate of QCAD (Queensland College of Visual Arts and Design) in Queensland, Australia, I use photography and non-reproducible artefacts to investigate belonging, displacement, migration and nomadism, childhood and women’s trauma, and community memory.
My visual work was featured by the Head On Festival, Art and About Festival, Nomadic Arts Festival, 1st Worldwide Studio and Apartment Biennale, Brighton Photo Biennial, Central East-European House for Photography in Bratislava, Process Space Art Festival in Ruse, Bulgaria, and others.
untitled (parts of me)
Photographic work
A man is cutting his nails.
untitled (lunch)
Photographic work
In front of a modest lunch, a man seems absent-minded
untitled (unseen cities I)
Photographic work
Cityscape
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
untitled (parts of me) is a monochromatic photograph that captures the subject cutting their nails. Of gravitational pull, the quiet, solitary activity, centres the composition. With the face and hands utterly concealed, man’s identity remains unknown. This anonymity reminds us that his private, mundane routine is an universal experience that we all share.
VIEW THE FULL REVIEW HERE.
INTERVIEW WITH CRISIA CONSTANTINE:
Untitled (parts of me) focuses on the hands and fabric rather than a full portrait. Do these hold significance in expressing identity and emotion, if so how?
What intrigued me about this setting was the man’s body posture. He was cutting off his nails and all his body was somehow contorted around this activity. I tried to transmit that to the viewer.
In the work, is there a specific emotion you wanted capture? Especially considering the tension in hands?
I was moved by the attention and care he put into cutting his nails. And how self-absorbed he was. He was painstakingly, delicately placing each cut into a pile. He also was sitting in such an uncomfortable position just to make sure that the nails wouldn’t fall down. It made be contemplate how his nails, although cut, were still a part of himself, and he considered them as such. And how the man, so unapologetic in his concentration and diligence, was assuming his vulnerability.
In Untitled (Lunch), the man seems to be physically there but mentally distant. What emotions or story do you hope to convey to the viewer through this work?
This work was part of a project studying the experiencing of alienation in our intensified world of immediacy and of the social that, conveniently, repeals any sense of disorientation, confusion or meaningless. I was interested in capturing subjects in their private, safe spaces, documenting their personal lives, delivering their unconcealed emotions.
Furthermore, what drew you to this particular scene and setting for the photograph?
I guess it was the way in which the man seemed to be estranged from his own home. It oddly felt that it was rather a choice.
Untitled (Unseen Cities I) showcases an abstracted cityscape- what first inspired you to use this approach to urban photography?
I began using this approach to explore the many ways in which we can ‘see’ an urban scape, the different occurrences of a city to the naked eye, its changing appearance, and its emergence through the lens, always beguiling. Although created in a ‘consciousʼ state, it is a product of imagination. The blurriness and fuzziness that characterise the image, add-up to the ‘dream-likeʼ impression, facilitating the transition between fantasy and reality.
The word ‘unseen’ suggests an overlooked perspective or something hidden. What do you want viewers in particular to notice or see in these images?
Through the medium itself, my work draws on physical reality. Yet, behind it, there is a richness of invisible truths and narratives. With each of my photographs, I attempt to make tangible the connection between the seen and the unseen.
Have there been any specific memorable reactions to your work from a viewer that you’d like to share?
A viewer interpreted one of my works through a Camusian lens. Joining the conversation couple of minutes later, another viewer said that their 4 years old could do that themselves.
Looking ahead, are there any upcoming projects you are working on that you’d like to share?
Lately, I began introducing written words in my practice. Initially, I manipulated words pictorially, exploiting the shape and detail they added to the image. Expanding my artistic strategies, I am now using words linguistically to build up narratives. I experiment with poetry writing, as well. I am currently working on a project that fuses nature photography with words. It employs brief poetry lines to construct abstract forms within the empty landscape.
ALICE
FINNERTY
ABOUT SOLITUDE:
The withered tree branch, with only a few blossoms clinging to it, appears fragile and abandoned, symbolizing isolation and resilience in solitude. The juxtaposition of natural beauty (the tree) with discarded waste bins suggests neglect or abandonment, reinforcing the theme of solitude. The black iron bars over the windows add a sense of confinement or separation, highlighting emotional or physical isolation.
As an oil painter working on representational landscape and portraiture, I explore themes of human emotion, perception, and viewership. By focusing on the emotional core of my subjects, I hope to create portraits and scenes that are universal, resonating with the viewer’s own experiences and emotions rather than solely my own.
For my landscape paintings, I pay particular attention to the colors and contrasts that make a setting feel unique and emotionally charged. For both my portraiture and landscapes, I blend representational techniques with abstraction. I typically begin by sketching the subject in charcoal or doing a watercolor study to prepare for the larger painting. Once I move to the canvas, I allow myself to be guided by the unpredictable painting process. A key aspect of my work is the exploration of light and texture, which I approach through layered glazing and impasto techniques that I learned over time. The transparency of oil paint allows me to convey nuance, depth, and contrast by building up rich surfaces.
Research is critical to my artistic practice. I regularly visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Frick to view Renaissance and Baroque works and study the way light reflects off of metal surfaces or highlights the folds in fabric. Relating what I see to lessons absorbed at the Art Students League, I study the specific viscosity and layering of paint that I try to emulate in my own work.
Brooklyn Branch (2024)
Oil on Wood Panel
The image presents a melancholic urban scene featuring two trash bins positioned against a wall with barred windows. A withered tree branch, adorned with a few remaining pink blossoms, emerges from one of the bins, creating a striking contrast between nature and waste. The windows in the background have iron bars, reinforcing a sense of separation or confinement. The reflections on the glass and the muted color palette, dominated by shades of gray, beige, and dark green, contribute to a quiet, somber atmosphere. The overall composition conveys themes of solitude, abandonment, and resilience amidst decay.
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
Brooklyn Branch (2024) presents two trash bins together in front of a wall with two iron bar windows that frame the two bins together and draw the viewer towards them. From the bin on the right, there seems to be a tree branch coming out, with some surviving cherry blossoms still clinging onto the dead branch. It contrasts with the artificial waste that we throw out as it is organic compared to the mass-produced items we often throw away.
VIEW THE FULL REVIEW HERE.
SIYU
ZHONG
ABOUT SOLITUDE:
This work explores the solitude of revisiting childhood places through unfamiliar eyes. It evokes solitude through its dreamlike, empty corridor, reminiscent of childhood memories of wandering alone in vast, unfamiliar spaces. Once filled with familiar faces, these spaces now feel distant, like a fading dream. The soft, hazy brushstrokes blur reality and memory, evoking the quiet introspection of a child lost in their own world.
I am an oil painter drawn to the interplay between reality and imagination. Using rich, layered brushstrokes, I transform familiar natural subjects into dreamlike compositions that defy conventional space and time. My work is influenced by surrealism, liminal spaces, and Daoist philosophy, all of which shape my exploration of perception and truth.
Oil painting is at the heart of my artistic practice—it allows me to build depth, atmosphere, and emotion in a way that feels both timeless and tactile. While I integrate digital elements such as AR/VR to expand the experience, my paintings remain the foundation, anchoring the viewer in a physical, immersive engagement with the work. By reinterpreting natural forms in surreal and ethereal ways, I invite audiences to question what is real, what is imagined, and how art can exist between the two.
Whispers of a Place No Longer Ours (2024)
Oil Painting
This painting captures the solitude of returning to childhood places that once felt familiar but now exist as distant echoes of memory. The soft, hazy brushstrokes blur the line between reality and dream, evoking the quiet introspection of wandering through spaces that feel both known and unknown.
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
Whispers of a Place No Longer Ours (2024) has impressively captured the perception that a place known from our childhood has become blurred once returning. It is connected to us, yet also feels as though there is no connection. Within the solitude of understanding this place – the atmosphere of it has captured the memories and warped them into a liminal space. The corridor with arched ceilings seems to run on and on forever into a path that repeats. It pulls us into it, trying to remember the space and how it was and compare it to now, but this is now an impossibility, so it goes on infinitely as it has now changed as you search the past.
VIEW THE FULL REVIEW HERE.
FILLIA
BARDEN
ABOUT SOLITUDE:
These paintings tell stories of women who rise early in solitude to immerse in the beauty of quietness and tranquility where they can meditate, ponder, and consider things for theirs & their family gain.
Indonesian born artist in Wolverhampton. She would introduce herself as a Christian artist who gives the ultimate credits to the Creator of all. Her works retell stories of the human affairs she observed. From the mundane things in life to the most complex struggles of mankind.
She considers a field (2024)
Oil Painting
She considers a field is inspired by ancient wisdom of Proverbs 31. A woman who wakes up early in solitude and diligently works with her hands for her family. She considers a field is very personal to me. It represents the season I am in right now —as a new artist considering art with eternity and family in mind.
Testimony in the new dawn (2024)
Oil Painting
New dawn has arrived once again. She rises to the solitude of the early day. She reads, meditates, and ponders on the testimony of the Lord.
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
She Considers a Field (2024) is a personal work as Barden relates to the woman depicted in the artwork- where the woman is standing at the start of a new season balancing art, family, and faith together. The composition seems to have a triangular structure that guides the viewer from the top to the woman, the two ducks, and the one chicken. The woman is dressed in a lavender gown that flows down and is immersed in this scene, feeding the three animals. Her facial expression seems to reflect contentedness and reflection on life as she is caring for the animals.
VIEW THE FULL REVIEW HERE.
TRISTAN
OMAR
MOHAMED
ABOUT SOLITUDE:
For me, solitude is the state of being alone with every part of yourself—the good, the bad, the angels, and the demons. It is the experience of confronting and embracing all that you are. Through double exposure, I explore how solitude manifests when one’s only companion is oneself, capturing the process of self-reckoning and acceptance.
I’m inspired by the human condition, with a focus on the raw and subliminal aspects of life. Using my grandmother’s manual film camera, I favour intensive technical preparation over heavy editing to create natural, unretouched images that evoke authenticity and emotional depth. Film photography is my medium of choice because the product looks like “how a memory feels”—warm, grainy, imperfect. It is a medium uniquely suited to preserving the past.
solitude: myself (2024)
film photography
solitude: angels and demons (2024)
film photography
solitude: prayer (2024)
film photography
CURATOR’S REVIEW:
These three works by Tristan Omar Mohamed, which are showcased in our publication (solitude: myself, solitude: angels and demons, solitude prayer) [all 2024 works], are black and white monochrome film photographs. The works use double exposure in which the artist successfully transformed this solitude moment (as suggested by the title) into a series in which the viewer is invited to explore the subject’s psychology, sitting upwards alone in a bedroom in low light.