Born: Australia
Studied: Falmouth College of Art, 1993 - 1997, Bangor Technical College 1992 - 1993
Moved to Cornwall: 1998
.
One Person Exhibitions:
2006
Belgrave Gallery, St. Ives (Forthcoming - October 2006)
.
Selected Mixed Exhibitions:
2010
'MMXMAS' - mixed show, Belgrave St Ives
'Salmagundi' - Mixed Summer Show, Belgrave St Ives
'The Exquisite Trove' - House Of Fairy Tales, Millennium Gallery, St. Ives
2009
The Rainyday Gallery, Penzance
London Art Fair, Belgrave Gallery, St. Ives
2008
'December show', Belgrave Gallery, St. Ives
Caxton Contemporary, Kent
London Art Fair, Belgrave Gallery, St. Ives
2007
'2nd X-posure - Revolver', ex-car showroom, Penzance, Cornwall
'St. Ives - Selected Artists', to coincide with book launch of: St Ives 1975 - 2005 - Art Colony in transition, Belgrave Gallery, St. Ives
'A Postcard From St Ives', Belgrave Gallery St. Ives
London Art Fair, Belgrave Gallery, St. Ives
2006
London Art Fair, Belgrave Gallery
'The Cornish Connection', Belgrave Gallery, London
2005
December Show, Belgrave Gallery, St Ives
'St Ives - Past and Present', Sherborne House, Dorset
First Performance', Strand Gallery, Aldeburgh
'Painting The Landscape', Belgrave Gallery, St Ives
'On The Edge', Arndean Gallery, London
'The Little Picture Show', Rainyday Gallery, Penzance
2004
Summer Exhibition, Belgrave Gallery, St Ives
South West Open Studios
2003
'Cornish Painters', Edgarmodern Gallery, Bath
Two person show, Pydar Gallery, Truro
2002
South West Open Studios
2001
The Hunting Art Prizes, RCA
.
Overview:
Virginia is an Australian-born artist now living and working in Cornwall after studying in North Wales under Peter Prendegast. She has returned to Australia on several occasions and gained valuable experience on field trips with Aboriginal Elders to the Gibson Desert, Western Australia, collecting and grinding local ochres and minerals for subsequent paintings and works on paper. Virginia is a painter with a powerful empathy for the moorland landscapes of The Lizard and Penwith areas of Cornwall, whose approach embraces the plein air tradition in an attempt to capture the shifting moods of her chosen environment. Her recent works have employed rich, earthy colours to investigate the seasonal changes affecting the wide-open spaces of Goonhilly Downs, rendered with both brush and palette knife. These landscape paintings are made slowly and organically using layers of generously-applied oil paint which is often scraped back and repainted until the picture surface begins to reflect the passage of time in a manner sympathetic to its subject. Her paintings not only reveal the moment, but also the revolving seasons that condition the landscape they portray. The weight of the represented landscape is often tempered by light, rhythmic strokes using higher notes of colour, which are used to depict the more transient phases of growth and decay. This facility for detail is more thoroughly explored in occasional treatments of still life - such as can be seen in this exhibition. Following involvement in a successful mixed show earlier this year, Virginia's work will be the subject of a solo exhibition at Belgrave St. Ives in September 2006.
.
Artist's Statement:
"My approach to painting is an exploration into the harmonies of local colour and the juxtaposition of shapes present in the field of vision. I work mostly with palette knives using lots of paint, the very substance of the medium takes over in the battle between paint and creating space. The process is to simplify. In this way the overall harmony and design is an attempt to define and redefine the translation of a personal vision into paint. The remoteness and natural beauty of the area I work are important, where meaning and feeling find space to weave a way into existence. Having been born in Australia, the native central desert region maintains a strong influence in the way I see the landscape."
| 
