Vivien Thomason

My work drips, swirls, layers and streams colour. It's a clear statement about the power of colour to energise our senses and feed our thoughts and fantasies. It's abstract, but the traumas of the earth and the rage of long-forgotten victims are recurring themes. Apocalyptic figures storm from the canvas, 'Furies' on a quest to avenge the injustices and misogyny of the world. I also rework Gauguin's Tahitian paintings, reclaiming the exploited young women as empowered 'witches', no longer weak or submissive. Other compositions include 'maps' of the sea and land incorporating bird and animal motifs and 'necklace' paintings with carved beads layered over mourning 'figures', lost in lament. my paintings are unashamedly gothic, but touches of humour are also in evidence. My paintings are rendered and dripped in liquid acrylics.
After a lengthy career in fashion, I picked up my paints again and poured my passions onto canvas. My career made me profoundly aware how colour can appeal and affect mood. It also clarified how women are treated and often exploited within the industry. After years of faster and faster fashion I seek to make amends by creating work that references the state of the world today and the climate catastropohe.
I'm a...

BA Hons English Lit
Art Class London evening classes under Dubravka Kalinich MA 2015-2020
Courses: Colour in Art from Giotto to Van Gough 2023, V and A
Abstract Art, Courtauld Institute 2023

'Frays and Furies' solo show HLSI Gallery, Pond Square, Highate N6 July 4-17 2025
'Passages' Shipton St Gallery E8 April 2024
'Oh Rose Cut in Rock' October 2023
Sacks and Bird Gallery-Contemporary Art Specialists, London- on-line from June 2023
'Beasts and Furies' solo show Coffee Circus London N8 Oct-Jan 2022
'Barbarian Tales' solo show Coffee Circus London N8 Oct-Jan 2019
Art Class London group show Hornsey Original Gallery N8 2017