Amy Shuckburgh

Amy works in oil paint, soft pastel and collage, using strong colour and energetic marks to explore scenes of domestic life, as well as rural and urban landscapes. Her figurative work focuses on the maternal, often unsung tasks of caregiving, depicting the multifaceted role of being a mother. This series began as a way of processing the particular challenge of caring for a child with special needs, and looks in on a world where women are strong and capable, yet frequently vulnerable and ignored. Her drawings and paintings of motherhood explore internal landscapes with a focus on narrative, memory and time. Jaqueline Rose (Professor of Humanities at Birkbeck Institute) describes Amy's work as 'sensuous without a trace of coercive sentiment, embodied without burden. Shuckburgh's delicate yet bold and vivid images of motherhood manage to evoke a portrait for our time that avoids the twin pitfalls of idealisation and punishment.'

Her external landscapes are preoccupied with how environment affects mood. Inspired by expressionism and fauvism. She augments colours, abstracts and simplifies shapes, and uses dynamic brushstrokes to convey the emotion felt in a place. She frequently uses poetry as a catalyst for her compositions and in the titles of her work. She is a published writer of short stories, poetry and journalism, and also organises art workshops and retreats.

Amy (b. 1977, London) studied MA Contemporary Curating, Goldsmiths College, London, (2004-05); BA Hons English Literature, Leeds University (1997-2000). Further courses studied include: The Royal Drawing School (2015); Slade School of Fine Art, London (2008) L'Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris (1996), St Ives School in Cornwall (1995).

Recent solo exhibitions include: No 6 Bruton, Somerset (2023); Picture, London, (2022, 2021); ‘Motherhood’, Olympia Auctions, London, ( 2018). Group exhibitions include: Moncrieff -Bray Gallery, Petworth, (2023); Bath Society of Artists (2023); Moorwood Art, Bruton, (2023, 2022, 2021); ‘Art for Youth’, Mall Galleries, London, (2023, 2022, 2021); The Art Shop Gallery, Abergavenny, (2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018).

Amy is the recipient of the Heatherley’s Drawing Prize, 2019 and an elected Associate Artist at Unison Colour since 2020. Amy’s portrait of playwright Harold Pinter (2006), is permanently displayed at the Harold Pinter Theatre, London. Amy is a published writer and educator.