The Exchange of Small Gifts: Elspeth Vince

As a female artist, she reclaims representation for women that Western culture has long ceded to male genius and patriarchal perspectives, and celebrates self-intimacy. Through her work, she experiments with tenderness and sexuality without being reduced to a single label or stereotype, offering a new perspective and re-authorship to highlight how notions of gender are imbued on the trope of the unclothed body.

“The lens I want to look through is taking into consideration all the history of the female artist; the ‘overly emotional female’ and how knowing this, I can communicate tenderness and even sexuality without it being labelled as a single thing; ‘the mother’ or ‘the whore’ trying to work out a disturbing, erotic space for her to sit in without the ownness being on the individual. The scrutiny on the female artist, it’s not new, but I want to experiment with how playing with scale changes this, for example; how does playing with a larger scale of an intimate moment change it from soft and voyeuristic into a more alpha, commanding image? Or does it increase the feeling of voyeurism?” (Vince, 2023)

Vince's work is a reflection of the human experience, exploring the interplay between light and shadow to symbolise the future and the past, hope and despair, and life and death. The glowing skin in her paintings represents the transference of energy and sentiment, emphasising the power of visual communication and the visceral experience of touch.

With her practice as her vehicle, Vince delves into the power of touch and the memories that our hands hold, tracing the journey of connection. This body of work is especially poignant, as it comes in the wake of Vince’s recent loss of her mother, and serves as a gentle acknowledgement to the effervescence of that profound impact.