BIO
Lícia Santos (b. 1998) is an Angolan Artist currently living and working in London. She graduated in 2022 from the Slade School of Fine Art with an MFA in Painting. Lícia has been awarded the Euan Uglow Memorial Scholarship, selected to participate in Series 7 of Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year ( both 2020) and shortlisted for The Morrison Foerster Art Prize (2023).
Lícia’s multidisciplinary practice is primarily focused on painting and extends to drawing, dance and photography. Informed by her connection to nature, her work investigates notions of time and aspects of the human experience which she says ‘reverberate the emotional landscapes we all share.’
Lícia’s latest body of work lends form to the rich quietude of our internal lives. Echoing her observations and lived experiences, her work draws inspiration from the landscapes of the Namib Desert, in the South region of Angola. Her photography and performance, capture intimate dialogues with nature’s elements, presenting her body in connection with the ground and in reunion with her homeland. The desert appears in her work both as a specific site and as a poetic, imaginary space nurturing her creative process. Her canvasses, imbued with a sense of calm, portray lone figures in arid landscapes or linen backgrounds, merged in their environment in profound states of introspection. Her work depicts an ethereal dance between body and earth, the visible and the invisible, in which we find a mirror of our own existence and deep relationship with the natural world. As Lícia states, ‘my work seeks to capture the aura of the desert - the fragments and the magic - that exist within us.’
Lícia’s creative process develops between immersive travelling and focused studio time. Influenced by her childhood, Lícia carries the sensitivity of observing nature, evident in her plein-air studies on paper, marked by fluid and unfinished lines. Her portraits and large figurative works - featuring herself, family, friends and sitters - are created from drawings, photographs and improvisation. Referencing classical oil painting and African sand techniques, her paintings on linen feature muted palettes and combine layers of oil paint, pencil, loose pigments and collected sands. Lícia uses these materials to explore how transparency and texture help to convey ideas of interiority and the passage of time. For her, the creative process requires material curiousity and emotional sensibility.
Lícia’s practice, grounded in the idea of interconnection between nature and the human experience, echoes the longing for an intrinsic connection that is gradually disappearing. ‘There is in nature a sense of peace, a condition forgotten or denied to modern bodies, that my work attempts to rescue.’
CV
Born in Namibe, Angola, 1998.
Lives and works in London, England.
EDUCATION
2020 - 2022 MFA Painting, Slade School of Fine Art, London
2017 - 2020 BA Fine Art and History of Art, Goldsmiths University, London
2016 - 2017 Foundation Diploma Art & Design, London Metropolitan University, London
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 In Search of Peace and Love Amongst the Flowers, OXO Gallery, London
Morrison and Foerster Art Prize, Andrea and Kirsty Maffioli, London
Open Studios, V.O Curations, London, England
2022 Graduate Show, Slade School of Fine Art, London,
Before the Moon I am, Hoxton Arches Gallery, London,
2021 Slade 150: Past, Present, Future, Octagon Gallery, London,
2019 The Third Nature, Safehouse 2, London, England
The Gold Award Exhibition, Goldsmiths University, London
Interim Show, Goldsmiths University, London
2017 Foundation Exhibition, London Metropolitan University
Muarte, Art’z Restaurant and Lounge, Luanda, Angola
SELECTED AWARDS, GRANTS AND PRIZES
2023 Morrison and Foerster Art Prize (shortlist) selected by Andrea and Kirsty Maffioli
2021 Studio Grant, Tiger Monkey UK (selected)
2020 Euan Uglow Memorial Scholarship (winner)
2020 Portrait Artist of The Year (selected contestant), series 7 episode 7, Sky Arts
SELECTED PRESS
Knowledge Quarter, “Private View: Slade 150 & Testing Ground Exhibitions“ in Online resource (2022) at [https://youtu.be/rTvVk1t5cLQ] consulted on 29 June, 2023.
A New Direction, “Arts Leadership and Youth Voice Webinar“ in Online resource (2022) at [https://youtu.be/Rimhre00HJc ] consulted on 29 June, 2023.
Before the Moon I am, “Artist Interview with curator Latifah A.Stranack“ in Online resource (2022) at [https://www.instagram.com/tv/CauCiFhqRqq/?igshid=ZTJlZmI4ZjZmNw%3D%3D ] consulted on 29 June, 2023.
PROFESSIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS
2020 - Today Freelance Art Workshop Facilitator, Tiger Monkey UK ltd, London
2023 - 2023 Art & Crafts Workshop Facilitator, The Dugdale Arts Centre, London
2020 - 2023 Gold Award Arts Adviser, London
2019 - 2019 Artist & Gallery Assistant, Lina Iris Viktor Studio, Autograph ABP, London
2018 - 2019 Life Drawing Facilitator, Life Drawing Atelier, London