Interview with Olivia Leake

Words by Otty Allum

Olivia Leake is a painter and student, two of her paintings, ‘Safe Space’ and ‘Ophelia’s Flowers’, were featured in the Dreamland Exhibition. Her work is heavily influenced by the practice of traditional painting. Definitely the Renaissance and Pre Raphaelite art periods. In particular the artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti and his muse Jane Morris. Olivia’s work is striking with its visually pleasing colour palette, array of flowers and foliage and beautiful women, this is contrasted with some of the ideas she often explores; the objectification and hyper-sexualization of the female body. 

Olivia Leake, with her artwork in the ‘Dreamland’ exhibition.

Olivia discussed her frequent use of the female nude within her work. The truth is that it’s just really liberating. I think especially as a woman, it's a kind of a reclamation of the female body in a way. She recognises that by painting the nude she establishes a degree of control over how it is viewed; in a context that allows for the appreciation of the female anatomy and not in a context that overtly sexualises my work. This idea of control over the way that the female body is perceived in her work runs much deeper and is something that can be recognised by every woman. Since moving to the city myself and my friends have witnessed and been victims of all kinds of harassment on the street. Having creative control over how much my work (and by extension myself) is sexualised, is an important factor for me.

Olivia Leake, ‘Ophelia's Flowers’, oil and varnish on canvas.

At the same time, this depiction of the female body can often present a conundrum.  I've been told that by painting pretty nude women that I could be ‘perpetuating stereotypes’ and that as a woman painting another woman I am potentially not ‘reclaiming’ the nude, despite this being my aim. On one hand the image of the nude woman can represent sexual liberation, whilst on the other, it could be seen as pandering to the male gaze. By completely denying my artistic preference for pretty subjects and doing the opposite, I’m still contributing to the male gaze. As a woman not doing what I want to do just because a male may sexualise my work just doesn’t sit right with me.

The portrait of the woman in the bath, titled ‘safe space’ is so soothing with its pastel colour palette, the dreamy blue of the background with the myriad of flowers blooming and the portrait of the woman; an image of tranquillity with her beautiful blue eyeshadow. It’s surprising to learn that this painting grew as a result of the death of Sarah Everard and the subsequent protests; an event that struck an emotional chord for so many people earlier this year. It felt only right for me personally to respond artistically. I was thinking about safe spaces for women and where I personally feel safe, which led to my paintings being somewhere between an open landscape and a sheltered bathroom. For me personally the bath is a safe place where I can relax and be within my own body without fear of external sexualisation. There is a big connection between women and water, as both are life givers and essential for life. There is a sense of duality here within the artwork, whilst it is an image of a woman at peace in her safe surroundings, it also represents a space to escape from the oppressive nature of the world at large.

Olivia Leake, ‘Safe Space’, oil on canvas.

The Dreamland exhibition dealt with the subjectivity of beauty and the reimagining of what beauty means in a modern world. Olivia depicts the motifs commonly found throughout the Renaissance and Pre-Raphaelite periods; the more ‘conventional’ pretty/romantic aspects of art eg flowers, nudes, women etc. The visual aspects of her work reflect beauty and harmony. My work is kind of innately dealing with beauty through the colour palette I use and the subject matter I’m drawn towards so I think it connects more in a literal sense of beauty. Her work explores the more traditional and classical images of beauty found in art from a female perspective, applying her own ideas of modern womanhood and its relation to the concept of beauty.

To see more of Olivia Leake’s work follow her on Instagram: @artbylivleake and TikTok: @artbylivleake.