JESS ALLEN

The shadows’ distorted and exaggerated poses (caused by rakish sunlight casting them over their uneven backgrounds) explores body language as a silent mode of communication, revealing how gesture and posture can immediately convey complex emotional states. Through her recurring use of the shadow figure, Allen experiments with a new mode of self-portraiture able to treat the silhouette as a distinct ‘other’ rather than a reflection of the self.

Into the depths of her “shadow-selves”, Allen pours the aspects of our identities we typically wish to keep hidden: our imperfect, vulnerable flaws. However, her paintings propose acceptance of these traits, rather than concealment, celebrating imperfection as vital to our humanity. This ethos resonates strongly within the exhibition’s feminist framework, reclaiming female representation from ideals of polish or perfection.

While her figures are distinctly feminine, they transcend specific autobiographical narratives and instead become archetypal symbols, embodying the creative and nurturing forces inherent in womanhood. Allen’s work resists sexualization, instead positioning the female form as a vessel of strength and empathy.

The exhibition’s title, We Want to Believe in Impossible Things, evokes our longing for idealised lives and unattainable dreams – a yearning tempered in Allen’s vision by the quiet beauty of acceptance. Her paintings become revelatory visual meditations on what it means to be seen, to feel, and to embrace imperfection as truth.