ABOUT ME
I am an award-winning London-based portrait artist championing my British Caribbean experience. I was born in the early 80s, pursuing a career in fashion after studying at Central Saint Martins. However, the covid pandemic inspired a return to my very first love art and I have spent the years since building my art practise up from a lockdown hobby to an award winning practise, which includes exhibitions, commissions and most importantly connecting the nostalgia and joy of the Windrush Generation with its descendants.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My art practise is a love letter to the black British experience from my heritage as the granddaughter of the Windrush Generation. I am not only holding onto the memories and dreams of those that came before me, but also celebrating the everyday of my community through portraiture.
Working from my South London studio, I create pieces that focus on surface. This includes building up layers of rhythmic paint strokes, memories and conversations captured in text and referencing the iconic mid-century 'front rooms' of the Windrush Generation, using vintage wallpaper either as the foundation of my artwork or as collage.
Representing the everyday with grandeur is integral to my work, so I ensure that the gaze and posture of each subject is both powerful and soulful. Listening to loud jazz music while I paint is an important part of this practise.
CV
MEDIA:
- Create Magazine - Issue #27 - October 2021
- Evening Standard 'Homes & Property' - February 2022
- Women Who Rebrand - Uncovering the Creative Genius of Yvadney Davis - Episode 15 - March 2022
- Art Seen - Summer Issue - May 2022
- Women United Art Movement - Honouring the Past, Embracing the Present with Yvadney Davis - Episode 52 - December 2022
- The HUTS Magazine - Issue 7 - February 2023
- Women United Art Magazine - Special edition - February 2023
- Colours of Art School - Situationship - March 2023
EXHIBITIONS:
- Group Show 'Presentations: A Celebration of Black Art' Hammersmith BID - October 2021
- Group Show - 'The Marks We Make' - August 2021
- Group Show 'Some of Us Are Brave' - Casild Art (March 2022)
- Group Show 'ING Discerning Eye' - Mall Galleries (November 2022)
- Group Show 'Black & Bold' - M&C Saatchi x Harrods (October 2022)
- Group Show 'Where Are You From From?' - University of Canterbury (May 2023)
PRIZES:
- 1st place winner - Art United Painting Prize 2022
COLLABORATIONS:
- Road Chef Black History Month - October 2022
- Casild Art x Harbottle & Lewis - Private Exhibition - November 2022