About Me & My Work
About Me and My Work
I am a 21-year-old artist based in the Manchester and Cheshire area, creating artwork through re-imagining and combining classical paintings with urban, modern settings.
I began merging past and present artworks three years ago during my final Fine Art A-Level. I found my niche through many experiments, such as cutting out old paintings and placing them in unlikely contemporary scenes, painting modern figures in Renaissance style, painting onto photographs, etc.
My works highlight classical art’s romanticism in today’s mundane reality, creating a jarring but harmonious scene. I choose settings where viewers would least expect to find these classical figures. I have worked in many places, such as my local streets of Manchester, London, and even as far as the sun loungers of Rhodes, Greece.
My work makes you consider how built up our everyday surroundings have become and how far we have strayed from the classical beauty of the Renaissance period and question what is considered beautiful now. The Renaissance was a period of newfound appreciation for the world after the pathos of the Dark Ages. Putting these famous figures among today’s familiar and banal settings shows the disparity between the idyllic past and the dullness of the present.
After a tumultuous journey of deciding what to do with my life, I now paint full-time. I paint to build my portfolio, take on commissions and continue to build a loyal following on TikTok.
I intend to create something unique and significant, bringing these old paintings back to life and giving them a new meaning. I hope you love it as much as I love creating it!
Amelie x
Why Do I Create These Pieces?
The Renaissance (1400-1700), the Age of Enlightenment (1680-1820), and the Pre-Raphaelites (1848-1900) are the key periods in art from which I draw inspiration. They were all revolutionary times of discovery, rebirth, and appreciation. Architecture, art, and literature were at their peak, and leading figures such as Michelangelo, Rosetti, Waterhouse, and Da Vinci made monumental societal changes.
I love to contrast romantic paintings from these eras with the almost dystopian settings of today. Built-up areas merge with classical figures representing enlightenment, change, and innovation, gracing these scenes to create an unexpected story and exciting juxtaposition. The brutalist architecture, concrete surroundings, and artificial lights from cars and streetlights contrast strongly with the dreamy sfumato, recognisable characters from the past, and unrealistically beautiful women. These were all essential features of Renaissance, Enlightenment, idealised, divi and Pre-Raphaelite art.
My art is open to interpretation, and I have seen that it can mean something very different and personal from person to person! I am so happy to see that people resonate with my work.
Photography
My works begin with a series of photos that I take, often of a typically modern scene. These photos then become the setting for my traditional painted figures. It can take 100s of photos to get the perfect angle whereby my characters can come to life. Some of my artworks have the chosen photo printed onto a custom canvas before painting the characters on top, whereas my more recent works are complete oil paintings.
Classical Artwork
I will choose a multitude of traditional artworks from between the 14th and 19th centuries. I use Procreate to cut them out and place them onto the photos I’ve taken. I will create numerous digital combinations of different paintings and photos until I find the perfect balance of ‘fitting in’ and ‘standing out’. This is then the composition I use as a reference for my paintings.
Oil Painting
- In my most recent works, I paint the composition entirely in oil paints onto cotton canvas. In my older works, I used oils to paint the classical figures on top of the printed canvas. The use of oil paint is a traditional medium dating back to the 1400s and alludes to the classical era of these figures.