Alexandra Oliver

Alexandra Oliver is a landscape painter based in Suffolk, whose work grows out of a close attachment to place. Woodland is her principal subject, and her paintings set out to convey the energy and vitality of the natural world.

She begins with studies in charcoal, pastel and acrylic, made in direct response to the changing light and atmosphere of the landscape around her. These are then developed into oil paintings on canvas, built up in successive layers of paint that give the surface depth, luminosity and a quiet vibrancy.

Her painting draws on the tradition of British landscape painting without being bound by it, revisiting the Romantic tradition from a contemporary standpoint. The aim is an immersive experience, one that brings the viewer inside a living landscape.

Oliver studied Fine Art with History of Art at the University of Leeds, including a year of Fine Art at York University in Toronto, and went on to train in classical drawing and painting at the Florence Academy of Art in Italy. She later completed an MA at Sotheby's Institute of Art in London. She won the Berkofsky Award and was shortlisted for the FUAM Graduate Art Prize.