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# Project Description Olivia Foster Olivia Foster Summary Final work I am an artist based in London and I typically work on large-scale oil paintings and drawings, often accompanied by poetry, that explore themes of a philosophical nature. I see my work as a visual representation of metaphysical enquiry; an attempt to render the invisible structures of existence, tangible through the human form. The figures I depict in my paintings and drawings are not merely bodies; they are ideas made of flesh. They encompass a temporal being caught in an eternal condition. They reflect our own grappling relationship with autonomy, volition and control, with the desire to forge our own paths while being continuously pulled back into patterns of a biological, cultural and historical nature. What would it mean to stop this motion? To step outside the cycle? My work poses this question despite he reality of a potentially unattainable answer. Yet I still find myself curious. If the maelstrom ceased, would we be liberated, or would we lose the very force that defines our being? My compositions capture the moment just before resolution - the frozen instant where possibility still exists, where the body has not yet surrendered fully to gravity or achieved flight. Some highlights in my career so far include, exhibiting my work in the ‘BODilY’ Exhibition at the Silian Gallery in Chelsea, London. From this exhibition, I sold a painting to an art collector. This sale was subsequently listed on Artsy, the world’s largest online art marketplace and was included in an article on artron.net, the leading Chinese art website. I also showcased my work at the National Gallery, in the ‘After Hours at the National Gallery’ event as part of an artist’s residency that I was selected for by Central Saint Martins. I am an artist based in London and I typically work on large-scale oil paintings and drawings, of... College Central Saint Martins Course BA (Hons) Fine Art Graduation year 2025 I have always been drawn to exploring themes of a cyclical nature in my practice. This has led me to discover the paradoxical nature of revolution - a term that exists in tension with itself. It simultaneously implies circularity and return or rupture and transformation. This inherent contradiction fuels my investigation into the dichotomy between ‘to revolve’ and ‘to revolt’ - a dialectic that is revealed not only in language and history, but viscerally through the human form. In my work, the body becomes a vessel through which metaphysical, ontological, political and temporal reasoning are both embraced and resisted. The intertwined coexistence of these two meanings within the same word suggests a deeper existential question: are we bound to repeat, or are we free to change? What would we become if this temporal cycle ceased to exist, and we broke free from its entrapment? What if the perpetual motion finally stopped? In my work, the body becomes the site where this question is made visible. The figures I depict are frozen in swirling motions, entangled with one another and with time itself. This notion, that contradiction is not inherently dissonant but can instead produce a deeper unity, underpins much of my thinking. The figures that I depict are both trapped and transcendent; they inhabit a space where time folds in on itself, where movement is both perpetual and futile. Yet within this apparent contradiction lies a momentary equilibrium amidst the chaos. What would it mean to stop this motion? To step outside the cycle? My work poses this question despite he reality of a potentially unattainable answer. Yet I still find myself curious. If the maelstrom ceased, would we be liberated - or would we lose the very force that defines our being? Is it within the motion itself that we find meaning? My compositions capture the moment just before resolution - the frozen instant where possibility still exists, where the body has not yet surrendered fully to gravity or achieved flight. Ultimately, my work is an exploration of the space between compulsion and liberation, fate and agency, recurrence and of rupture. The human form, in all its fragility and resilience, becomes the vehicle through which these abstract tensions are made visible. It is through the body that I attempt to grapple with the paradox of revolution - not to resolve it, but to inhabit it. In the ever-repeating revolutions of history and being, my work seeks to locate that flickering moment when revolt is possible - when the cycle might stutter, shift, or be reimagined. That moment, suspended in the maelstrom, is where the body speaks: of struggle, of hope, of the eternal return - and perhaps, of something new. Final work 'At the Still Point of the Turning World' Oil on canvas 450cm x 170cm 'At the Still Point of the Turning World' - close-up photograph Oil on canvas 450cm x 170cm 'At the Still Point of the Turning World' - poetry Poetry written to accompany my triptych painting as one body of work. 'At the Still Point of the Turning World' - close-up photograph Research and process Drawing a sketch as part of my experimentation process. 4B pencil on A3 paper 'At the Still Point of the Turning World' triptych painting in progress. Share this project I have always been drawn to exploring themes of a cyclical nature in my practice. This has led me to discover the paradoxical nature of revolution - a term that exists in tension with itself. It simultaneously implies circularity and return or rupture and transformation. This ... A link to this page has been added to your clipboard Browse related work Being Human Body Histories Painting FineArt Figurative Poetry
# Links ## Official page - https://ualshowcase.arts.ac.uk/project/628649/cover ## External - https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivia-foster-3555082a1/ - https://www.instagram.com/liv.foster - https://www.oliviafosterfineart.com/ - tel:(+44)7801419322 - mailto:oliviafoster0401@gmail.com - https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fualshowcase.arts.ac.uk%2Fproject%2F628649%2Fcover&text=Olivia+Foster - https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fualshowcase.arts.ac.uk%2Fproject%2F628649%2Fcover&media=https%3A%2F%2Fportfolio-tools.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F05%2F22111230%2FIMG_4184.jpg&description=Olivia+Foster