Scarlett Budden

Budden’s work looks to challenge the tensions between the female inner voice and the historical and social dialogues that frame the value and objectification of the female form. Each painting investigates the complexities of spectatorship and voyeuristic exploits within both cinematic practices and the traditions of figurative painting.

Whilst some works are autobiographical, others are purely observational. In this exploration into the duality of the self and the protagonist, the audience’s relationship to the female form is undetermined. The interplay between the known and the unknown threatens the direction of objective gaze. A critical lens is deployed to explore and revisit the trope of the muse through twisting perception and representing a sense of unease. Though its abjection and unfamiliarity, the female body claims back its agency. For when the body is no longer seen as an aesthetic whole its autonomy is protected. The spectator is given a symbolic cold shoulder.

These ambiguous facades sit within illusionist arched portals to empower the observed to become the observer. Ultimately, the work focuses on control and the understanding of who in the conversation is truly in possession of it. It is the power dynamic between sitter, artist, and audience that is under scrutiny.