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Ilsa Brittain, a painter, with a master’s from NYAA in New York, currently based in London, UK.

As a painter I am constantly exploring what paint and illusion can do, have worked both representationally and abstractly, and am now also exploring the possibilities of 3-dimensional objects.

I am curious about the magic of illusion - in imagery, in mark making, in the object - when something somehow transcends what it is made of, and there is an enjoyable confusion that invites a question - when cloth is not just cloth but becomes something more; when the density of mark-making becomes more than paint on a surface; when an object goes beyond its own materiality.

I have spent almost my entire life living in different countries and in different circumstances - on a boat, in the forest, in third world towns, in first world cities - and so have experienced many different cultural situations. This feeds into my understanding and my work - perhaps everything is an illusion...

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