Issy Wood

Issy Wood’s figurative paintings are uncannily familiar, yet ultimately bizarre. Depicting luxurious and decorative objects, 19th century relics, sphinx-women, numerous portraits of Joan Rivers, among others, her works blend contemporary emblems with those from the past. The muted colours of Wood’s canvases convey a sense of tiredness with materialism of both luxury of silver tableware, decorative arches, porcelain tea sets and lavishness of leather jackets and fake nails. Mixing traditional elements of painting with contemporary textures of clothes, Wood's practice further incorporates sculpture, installation and writing. The intersection of the historical timelines, the seeming emptiness and weariness of her practice earned her the title of a “mediaeval millennial”. Wood often repeats her subject matters across many works, showing a methodical obsession with things and personas in an attempt to excavate and investigate them, humoursely or not.