Daisy Harcourt’s portrait of Arrietty Clock

Daisy Harcourt’s (1990, Fine Art) portraits of female writers and literary characters are being exhibited at Weald Contemporary in October 2023. One of the portrait sitters for the Women & Word exhibition is Dr Laura Varnam, Lecturer in Old and Middle English Literature at Univ.

From Mrs Dalloway to Jo Sweeting, in “Women & Word”, Daisy Harcourt explores the unique discourse between artist and writer through a fascinating series of portraits featuring contemporary women. Each sitter has a personal connection to the written and spoken word. All the contemporary portrait sitters submitted a short piece of writing about what words mean to them, which informed Daisy’s portraits. Dr Laura Varnam has also written the introduction to the exhibition catalogue.

A close-up of Daisy Harcourt’s portrait of Dr Laura Varnam

Daisy studied Fine Art at the Ruskin School of Art at the University of Oxford. She is inspired to make things through her enjoyment of art, music, film and literature from different cultures. Her work is also informed by mid-century artists, illustrators, textile artists and printmakers. Daisy’s work has been commissioned by Eiderdown Books, Canns Down Press, Chichester Festival Theatre, Weald and Downland Living Museum and Oxford University.

The “Women & Word exhibition” runs from 7 to 27 October at Weald Contemporary. You can find out more about Daisy’s work at daisyharcourt.com. Follow Daisy Harcourt and Dr Laura Varnam on Instagram.

Published: 15 September 2023

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