Tales of the Unexpected
Antonia Jackson and Isabelle Hayman
19 – 30 June 2019
Open evening: Thursday 20 June 2019, 6 – 8 pm. Please RSVP to [email protected]
Artists talk: Saturday 29 June 2019, 2.30 pm
Tales of the Unexpected brings together paintings and drawings developed by Antonia Jackson and Isabelle Hayman in response to their recent rediscovery of family archives belonging to their respective French fathers: Antonia stumbled upon Super 8 films shot by her father while on business travel in Asia and Africa in the 70s and 80s while Isabelle found a box of slides belonging to her father who worked in Africa as a geologist. Such rich material proved to be an inspiration for both artists and an opportunity to explore memory and the diversity of other cultures in their own personal way: Antonia developed a series of colourful, ambiguous and dreamlike figurative paintings inspired by carefully selected still images from the found Super 8 films, focused on scenes of the everyday and unusual landscapes, thus recreating a fictional memory; Isabelle developed both a series of figurative paintings and drawings focused on multi-layered imaginary female portraits reflecting on cross-cultural pollination and the complexity of identity.
About the artists
Both artists are originally from France and are now based in London.
Isabelle Hayman holds a degree in Textile Design from ESAA Dupéré Paris and a Master of Fine Art from Université Paris 1. Alongside a career dedicated to textile, she decided to re-initialise her Fine Arts practice in 2014. She has exhibited in the UK and Europe (including a solo show of drawings at Paul Smith’s boutiques in Paris, London, Hamburg & Amsterdam) and has participated in several illustration projects. She was shortlisted for the ING Discerning Eye prize 2016.
Antonia Jackson
After an initial career in banking, Antonia Jackson decided to pursue her passion for art. She graduated from Wimbledon College of Arts with a BA (hons) in Fine Arts /Painting in 2014 after completing a Foundation Diploma in Art and Design at Chelsea College of Art (2010). She has since then exhibited in the UK and France and her work is held in private collections in the UK and Europe.
