80cm x 80cm Acrylic on Board

Leila Godden UA is a member of the United Society of Artists, regularly exhibiting in London, and is Chairman of artist run Chalk Gallery in Lewes.

She trained at Herefordshire College of Art & Design, has attended The St Ives School of Painting, and has been selling her paintings through galleries since 2004. As well as mixed exhibitions she has had several solo shows, and her paintings are in private collections in France, Italy, Israel, the USA, Canada, Hong Kong, and Saudi Arabia, as well as the UK.

Artist Statement

My source of inspiration is my connection with the sea. The vast panorama of changing light, dramatic weather and powerful water, framed by rocks solid with history, yet transient with time and the rhythm of the earth. The minutiae of rock pools juxtaposed against the expansive sweep of sea and sky. Here, I feel a completeness incorporating time and space, stillness and movement. This is the strata of childhood memory laid down in me.

My paintings seek to recreate this connection, by distilling something essential about what it is to be part of this ever changing, ever the same, timeless phenomenon.

Each piece starts with something that resonates, perhaps a glimpse of the play of light as water cascades over a rock, a moody horizon or, less tangible, the feeling of a painting which needs to be expressed. By working on several pieces simultaneously a series is created exploring a common theme.

The paintings evolve through a process of improvisation where artist interacts with materials, leading and following as marks are made and layers are unveiled. The call for me to be present to inflections and nuances that emerge through the act of patient observation and contemplation, creates an “inscape”. This embodies the idea that the inner world and the outer world meet in the consciousness of an individual, and into this space a person will project their own uniqueness. The painting becomes a threshold in a dialogue between inner and outer. Beyond words, but sensed and understood.

I prefer a water based medium, which also has substance and sculptural qualities when required. Acrylic paint is my medium of choice, which responds well to working in layers, pouring and flowing freely as water is applied in various ways, allowing the pigments to interact. Over the years I have chosen to limit my palette, to create harmony and a sense of continuity, while fundamentally corresponding to the subject matter.

As my practice is now becoming established, I aim for continual development of ideas and exploration of techniques, nurturing the concept of improvisation. My goal is to create paintings which capture both the essence of my chosen subject and myself, as the artist.