Georgia Semple’s contorted canvases mirror “the tension between perception and reality”

In her large, richly layered paintings, the artist Georgia Semple explores themes of “identity, faith, addiction, and connection”. Initially turning to art as a tool to explore her Guyanese heritage, many of the artist’s canvases have ended up capturing something between reality and fiction. Her visually warped portraits detail “imagined scenes of Black communities that blend family archives with broader cultural narratives”, she says. Each of her warped figures or distortions has a specific role – to “mirror the tension between perception and reality.”

For Georgia, underpaintings aren’t something to cover over in the process of making her surreal scenes, in fact, they often take centre stage, with monochromatic works that use one shade of colour to establish entire pieces. In other works these preliminary studies contrast with stark highlights, revealed underneath a mixture of “thin, delicate layers applied with dry brushes” or “thick, gestural strokes”.

The artist’s practice isn’t limited to oil painting. She often makes ceramic work that is inspired by “petroglyphs” (ancient rock carvings), as well as blending in collage and embroidery influenced by ancient Guyanese garments into background motifs. Thematically, Georgia’s pieces often find inspiration from Bible scriptures, drawing on religious iconography and narratives to translate some of the “challenges of living by spiritual values in a world often at odds with them”, she ends.