Millie Gleeson

For as long as I can remember I’ve been mesmerised with the female form and its expression. As a young girl I would constantly draw ladies in large triangular dresses, in my teens I amorously read and created comic books that featured heroines, then throughout school I collected images of women from magazines, fascinated by the variations of emotion and narrative portrayed.

I felt the need to fabricate my own visions. Combining costume, body art and location I set to work constructing my own photoshoots. Using my friends as models, I found adorning them with costume and makeup gave way for both inner and outer transformations. Creating a playful environment where we were able to explore the characteristics that emerged through this performative act.

This is where my painting journey began…

It wasn’t enough for me to stop here, transforming the captured imagery through paint became another, more intimate method to develop my visual language and deepen the analysis of the female form and psyche. I was naturally led to paint, the applied layers mirroring the aspects of personas I witnessed during these photoshoots. The physicality of paint and mark making has become my meditation, allowing me to unlock pieces of myself through a process which is both transformative and reflective.

The Muse series is a collection of friends, who inspire me in numerous ways; conjuring storylines with a look, a movement, an air, a word and just by being. My work is a celebration of women in all their different forms and feelings.

Amaranthus, Acrylic, spray paint, shellac and permanent marker on canvas, 2014, 50” x 36”

Belle, Acrylic, spray paint, shellac and permanent marker on canvas, 2013, 48” x 50”

Bird, Acrylic, spray paint, shellac and permanent marker on canvas, 2013, 48” x 44”

Dusk, Acrylic, spray paint, shellac and permanent marker on canvas, 2014, (SOLD)

Emma, Acrylic, spray paint, shellac and permanent marker on canvas, 2012, (SOLD)

Faunication, Acrylic, spray paint, shellac and permanent marker on canvas, 2013, (SOLD)

Faunus, Acrylic, spray paint, shellac and permanent marker on canvas, 2013. (SOLD)

Greer, Acrylic, spray paint, shellac and permanent marker on canvas, 2015, 32” x 44”

Illumination, Acrylic, spray paint, shellac and permanent marker on canvas, 2013, 36” x 50”

In Bloom, Acrylic, spray paint, shellac and permanent marker on canvas, 2013, 30” x 38”

kim Ono, Acrylic, spray paint, shellac and permanent marker on canvas, 2012, (SOLD)

Mexican, Acrylic, spray paint, shellac and permanent marker on canvas, 2012, (SOLD)

Mysore, Acrylic, spray paint, shellac and permanent marker on canvas, 2013, 34” x 44”

Prophesy, Acrylic, spray paint, shellac and permanent marker on canvas, 2013, (SOLD)

Roots, Acrylic, spray paint, shellac and permanent marker on canvas, 2013, (SOLD)