LARA BOWEN
Still-life and sunlight
At the core of Lara's practice is a fascination with how we hold experience: emotionally, materially, and neurologically. Painting remains central, particularly semi-abstract florals in which colour, light, and composition act as emotional markers and spatial metaphors. Lara also embraces experimentation: multi-exposure photography layered with shadow and acetate; wry colour charts rooted in language and emotional association; reworked ceramic vessels as both bodily and symbolic containers; and synaesthetic abstract works that explore perception and time.
Lara's floral still lifes explore memory, emotion, and the passage of time through colour and form. Painted from memory rather than direct observation, the works balance recognisable domestic motifs with expressive mark-making and intuitive composition. Flowers become stand-ins for people and moments - familiar, fleeting, and emotionally charged - while the vase acts as a quiet symbol of care, containment, and safety.
Through vibrant colour and semi-abstract forms, the paintings aim to evoke a sense of place and feeling rather than describe a specific scene.
Born by the sea in Sussex, her surrounding area has long offered inspiration. The sensory input from the light on the sea, the sounds and colours of the nearby harbour and beach huts on her daily walks, the shapes of things grown in her garden - all stored input which become revealed in her work.
Lara combines her artistic practice with representing artists via the gallery, facilitating workshops, freelance curation and artist mentor.ing.
AVAILABLE PAINTINGS
STUDIO
Situated in an old mews in Hove, the space is beautifully cool in the summer months but ice-cold in winter, so before spring arrives I paint the memories of warmer months. It's as if I'm trying to magic summer sunshine with paint.
The subject matter varies, ranging from cut flowers and travel-inspired memories to subtle colour transitions, figurative works, and the light filtering through trees. These themes often cycle and overlap, creating a dynamic interplay within my practice, keeping things fresh and constantly evolving.
In my process, objects are abstracted and reduced to their essential forms, while colours are heightened to convey the narrative. Sometimes I remove entire sections of work to reveal the ghost of those marks, only to then work into them again until the painting pings to life.
Music is always playing in my studio, particularly female singer-songwriters, whose energy often shapes both the mood of my paintings and the titles they are given.
In summer I spend time in gardens and beside water, exploring rock pools and drinking in the reflections and refractions. This generates momentum for an evolving series of paintings which are about shards of sunlight and snippets of blue skies between the tangle of growth; the above and the underneath; reflected and shaded; the crystal clear and the murkier, more confusing things.
Attempting to capture memory and emotion using coloured substances applied to a surface is compulsive and the flirt with that elusive creative magic is addictive.
The lockdown years marked a significant reset in my work where the changes in routine led to new ideas and concepts taking shape. These new concepts found their way into my paintings. While the inspiration behind my work remains the same, a more abstract approach has emerged - bolder, looser, and more expressive - from being fully present in the moment, capturing joy as it unfolds.
I now experiment with different media and techniques. The music I listen to has changed too - it's louder, more upbeat, and fills the studio with energy. I dance, I play, and I explore. This has become an integral part of my process, infusing my work with a liveliness and spontaneity.