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Naomi Workman

Naomi Workman (b. 1990) was born in Somerset and is based in London, UK. In 2018, she completed the Drawing Year, The Royal Drawing Schools postgraduate programme and in 2011 a BA in Graphic Design at Camberwell College of Art. Workman was artist-in-residence at ESMoA Los Angeles, USA (2023) and The Moritz-Heyman Residency in Tuscany, IT (2022). The Arts Council England funded her solo show D is for Dog at AMP gallery in London (2021). Recent group shows include Fierce Form at Art Mega Star, USA (2024) and Dentro at Somers Gallery, UK (2023). Her works are held in The Royal Collection, UK, University of the Arts, UK and Xiao Museum, CN among others.

Naomi Workman’s work develops from surrealist influenced automatic-drawings undertaken in sketchbooks, which are filled with loose and dynamic pencil drawings. These drawings are then expanded onto linen canvases, oil-paint is used to evolve them into a rich painting language. A reactive colour palette is intuitively applied, where cool teals contrast hot cadmium reds. With an earthy base of Raw and Burnt Umber painted onto the natural weave of the Linen as a neutral ground for bold washes and blocks of colour to grow from. The artist simultaneously leaves some areas raw and lightly treated and others detailed and laboured. The painted layers opacity references the experiential perception of time. Workman paints the observed rhythms in her direct surroundings, as a kinetic passage through time.