"Female Nude I" Painting

When I, Lucy O’Donovan started with oil I was searching for the perfect colours and textures to depict flesh, muscle and skin tone of the human form. Working with oil was considerably different from the other mediums that I had worked with, and I started to develop a fascination with the surface qualities and colour richness of the oil paint. As my paintings evolved, so too has my technique and I often work primarily by building up layers of thick, rich and multi coloured textures. I find that constructing a three dimensional surface in this way not only allows me to depict tissue the way I want, but that as a result a much more visceral piece of work emerges. My painting in the present day is driven by fascination with the human body and the feelings that this invokes. For me it is important to portray the body in as honest a way as I can, irrespective of whether it would be considered classically beautiful or not. I am aware that the motivation behind this is probably a kick back against the social pressures of achieving the perfect figure. The shape, colour and quality of flesh are something that I constantly try to attain. It is always a battle to manage the colour and texture of the oil, a balance of which I feel is never quite achieved. I tend to paint the people who are involved in my life, as an emotional attachment often drives and influences the way I paint. I claim that painting is a fairly self-obsessed process: I often paint in order to work through my own issues and those relating to the subject. As an English citizen born in 1975 in Liverpool, I graduated as a veterinarian before returning to academia to complete a PhD in 2002. Outside of art, the science of mental illness is my other great passion. I carried out molecular biology research into the brain, and studied the pathways and genes involved in both schizophrenia and stroke, at the Universities of Glasgow, Strathclyde and Melbourne. More recently I have become the co-founder of an online project called cRxeate. This consists of vets, doctors and dentists who use creativity in whatever form, to relax and de-stress during their career. The process of creativity has been shown as a way forward out of burnout and self-erosion by enriching and providing headspace.