“EX UTERO" (SIMONE)

Ex Utero (Simone) is one of six paintings I made for my series, August Girls. The series was picked up by Gateway Gallery for a solo show in 2025.

I made the series from 6 months worth of life drawing studies, predominantly held in basements and repurposed sheds in London. Taking part in these studies, from Dulwich to Waterloo, was one of the most charming experiences of my life. I was, without exception, the youngest person at every study. I made friends with polite 60 year old charcoal artists and the nude women who posed for us.

This piece was made from quick sketches of my favorite life model, Simone. I only met her once, but she ended up being the subject of three of my six August Girls paintings.

Something about her came to be really charming to me: I recall in the session that she was in quite a bad mood, and complained through the whole study about the heat lamps and lights being too close. Most of the others in the room felt a little uncomfortable. At the time, I felt the same. But looking back at the sketches, iterating on them, my perspective started to soften. This was a woman, potentially uncomfortable in her body, potentially regretting signing up to model, and externalizing her discomfort. Why shouldn’t we share in that with her?

Anyways, I came to love her. And the more time passed since that study - the more abstract her bad mood became - the more I came to understand that this stranger was allowed to act and feel any way she desired in that moment. Simone, my so-far favorite muse.