Freya Horsley English, b. 1979

'In addition to recording what I see and experience, painting has always been a source of escape for me. It is a way of transporting myself to remembered places and experiences and never more so than in the last year or so as we have been more restricted in our movements and have had to dig deep to find our own way through these strange times.

These paintings are from a new body of work which comes out of a year of drawing outside in the landscape, experimenting in the studio, travelling whenever possible and finding solace and escape in letting spaces and places emerge on the canvas. Working initially with very fluid paint and inks which are poured and tipped with the canvas on the floor, I work up through the layers with acrylic, oil and various other media to create an evocation of a place with its sights and sounds.

The rugged coastline, soaring skies and hidden coves of Cornwall have been a deep-rooted part of this process, drawing on the sense of space and freedom of being outdoors, finding peace in watching the light change over the ocean, and listening to the comfortingly incessant sounds of waves and gulls. I have drawn on these captured moments in making this work, moments both newly lived and those stored away and remembered. I hope that in these paintings you can experience some of your own memories over again and can start to look forward to making more in this unique corner of the country.'