Celia Paul: Interiority

The subtle nature of Celia Paul’s depictions of family and friends are often likened to a sense of the ineffable. Her highly personalised subject matter has the ability to cause an emotive reaction to nearly all those that view them. In Paul’s choice to represent relationships such as; mothers to daughters, siblings or friendships – the viewer is able to engage with these representations by drawing on their own personal experiences.

Paul’s preferred method for printmaking is soft-ground etching, a medium which allows her to capture the effect of light on her subjects and spaces, bringing a sense of inner mood to her prints. There is a timeless quality to these works, as her figures express intimacy and closeness in undecorated surroundings, dwarfed by silence and lost in contemplation.