Josie Goddard is a 27 year old, British artist living and working in Wiltshire. After formally training and teaching at Charles H Cecil Studios, Florence, Josie received her MFA from City and Guilds of London Art School. Amongst solo and group shows, her works have been selected twice for the Royal Society of Oil Painters annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries and for The Sussex Contemporary held at Brighton’s i360.

 

Josie’s fascination with the alchemical quality of oil paint is explored through her still life paintings. From antique shops, to roadside fly-tips, she seeks objects to test the ability of paint to transform into something tangible - polished metal, soft skin or grainy ceramics. Her mark making recalls the richness of a classical painting tradition, influenced by old masters such as Velázquez and Sargent.

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For this new body of work Josie has been exploring Old Wives’ Tales and childhood memories, drawing on the oral histories passed through generations. These stories persist in a world increasingly defined by AI and the internet. We don’t remember where we learnt them, as if our bodies knew them already. They connect us to our ancestors and to a deeper understanding of the land that we are at risk of forgetting.