Phillippa Clayden

Born in London in 1955, Clayden completed her BA Honours at Central School of Art & Design and Post Graduate Diploma at the Royal Academy Schools. She studied life drawing for six years under the inspirational tutorage of Cecil Collins. Her life has been shared between Cornwall & London since birth: she finally moved to Cornwall in 2012, her studio is based in Truro.  She has had numerous exhibitions throughout Britain and internationally, most recently as part of the 'Big Women' exhibition curated by Sarah Lucas.

Her paintings are noted for their breath-taking imagery combined with a stunning layered surface, which is built from a powerful instinctive link to the world of the unconscious and of myth.John Russell Taylor who has written several of her catalogues, says of her work: Everything may come about by chance but nothing is accidental. However much the hand, which makes the surface, may seem to be acting autonomously, the mind puts in what the mind extracts. These are definitely modern myths, the product of a modern sensibility. But the great unconscious that they are drawn from belongs to everybody.

Phillippa Clayden is one of the guest speakers for our Symposium Q and A weekend, filmed as part of our '100 Mentors' online course.