Raphael Barratt

Influenced by the ancient landscape in which she grew up, Raphael Barratt explores ways to use landscape to set both the mood and aesthetic structure in her work. Inspired by Indian miniatures as well as the sculptural stillness of the early Renaissance techniques, especially those of Giotto and Piero Della Francesca, Barratt’s work does not define topographical truth but rather alludes to the specific atmosphere of moments in a place or landscape, both in the present and in memory.

Barratt works on paper prepared for oil, the surface of which creates a texture that is close to that of fresco. Using thin layers of paint and linseed oil, Barratt builds a luminescent quality in the painting’s surface which is balanced by areas of deep, dark colour. Born in 1994 in Kent, Barratt received her BA in painting from Camberwell College of Art, London in 2017 before undertaking the Drawing Year at the Royal Drawing School, London, graduating in 2018. She lives and works in Gloucestershire.