Shelly Perkins
Shelly Perkins
Catherine Van Giap - fish panel
Catherine Van Giap
William Smith
William Smith
Harbour by Lorenzo Gavarini
Lorenzo Gavarini
Jill Crowther
Jill Crowther

Isobel Craggs Alferoff

On this page

Artwork for Isobel Craggs Alferoff

‘Just a couple of kids’

'fell off my bike'

‘Girls night’

‘A fish out of water’

‘the blackberry bush and it’s consequences’

‘One prawn too many’

‘Post pickle painting’

‘My little brother doesn’t like mushrooms’

How would you describe the work you do and why?: 

All of the landscapes which I insert myself into are in some way based on memory, constructed from my grandmother’s things and photographs from the Welsh countryside in which I grew up. Often, these scenes are a little rudimentary, ergonomic, almost drawn in. I paint myself in oils, encased within these landscapes, enclosed within a space which the outside world could hardly penetrate. This combination of the female nude and the natural world comes from a long-standing fascination with painters such as Rossetti. Half submerged and naked figures climb up and out of pools of water into the natural landscapes surrounding them in paintings such as ‘fell off my bike’, similarly to the nymphs which frequent Waterhouse’s paintings. Spider-crabs atop their head, headdress or amalgam, this half human, half sea-creature is something adjacent to the little mermaid from Hans Christian Andersons fairytales, an illustrated copy of which was central to my childhood and now my artistic practice.

For you what does being an artist mean?: 

I love to paint, and I love to draw. Art is something which has been central to my life since I was small, and something which I am excited to continue to make throughout the rest of my life.

Describe what you call yourself/your practice?: 

I am a painter who works primarily with oils and gouache paint, fascinated with both the female figure and rural landscapes.

Your practice & activities include e.g workshops, teaching: 

I’m in the final year of my painting degree, so have been focused on developing my work, organising exhibitions, and putting on art auctions/market stalls.

CV & Education, relevant & leading to your artistic practice: 

I graduated from Hereford College of Art on the level 3 extended diploma in art and design in 2021, and am now studying painting at the University of Brighton.

Exhibitions in the last 3 years: 

Outbreak exhibition, 2023
DOGFIGHT, the Queery, 2023,
DOGFIGHT, Phoenix Art Space, 2024

Search Artists by Surname