Anne Russell

Born in Scotland, Anne Russell spent her teenage years in South Africa. Returning to the UK, she joined the Lindsay Kemp company in 1968 performing the leading role in Oscar Wilde’s Salome to great acclaim. Her years as a performer are visible in her paintings where drama, human relationships and story telling interweave to express her view of the world. Anne graduated from art college in 1986 and has painted ever since.

“Inspired by existential anxieties, I make figurative work to explore diverse “wild things”, emotions and actions. My pictures are stories from an inner realm, made visible. More poetic than literal, the viewer is invited to make whatever story they choose from what they see. Unplanned, uncensored and improvised, diversity , co-operation, our relationship to the natural and wilder side of ourselves and the world is what excites , disturbs and also motivates me to take action.

I love to draw and paint and in this body of work I have chosen to make images that resonated with me deeply in order to tackle authentic subject matter that comes from the depth of my being. Influenced by fairytales, folk lore, myths and all that exists emotionally, in dreams and nightmare behaviour, I have sought to untether my heart from its bonds of fear borne out of past experiences and take on current environmental and social issues directly through my art practice .

I paint and draw every day, preferring to work in oilpaint on canvas or gouache and or ink on paper They both stay wet and can be moved around, blended, erased and reworked, which suits my improvised way of working whereby I usually start with an intention and allow the work to make itself. There is no right or wrong way to view my work, it is open ended, I hope, a portal for you to enter, own and interpret, or not. I love to talk about my work and hope to be available at the gallery to do that.”

Anne Russell 2020