carnival series (2020)

Initiated in the summer of 2020, the Carnival series emerged from sketchbook drawings made following the first national lockdown. As public spaces began to reopen, funfairs appeared as vital signs of returning life, symbolising festivity, social engagement, and entertainment.

These works explore the tension between the manufactured excitement of the fairground and the stark reality of what it actually offers. By contrasting the naïve, polished wonder of a funfair viewed through the eyes of a child with the visible, faded reality perceived in adulthood, the series examines the illusion of nostalgia and the passage of time.

works on paper

installation view

Installation view, Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, London, 2021.