Olivia Sterling
In her paintings, Sterling presents the viewer with scenes of daily life that subtly critique attitudes towards race, class, gender and social status. While her typically closely cropped and vividly coloured canvases – teeming with arms, legs and half-eaten food – may seem playful at first sight, they do in fact tackle subjects that are anything but. In this way, Sterling’s artworks can be seen as contemporary genre paintings, designed to make us reflect upon the world around us. Through her work’s outwardly jovial exterior, Sterling lulls us into a false sense of security and forces us to consider our own misconceptions and prejudices.
Olivia Sterling