Genieve Figgis

Irish artist Genieve Figgis brings a darkly playful edge to the traditions of art history. Working in oil and acrylic, her paintings are rich in colour, humour, and texture, where decadence and decay share the same canvas.

Drawing inspiration from figures such as Goya, Oscar Wilde, and Edgar Allan Poe, Figgis reimagines the grandeur of 18th- and 19th-century society with a distinctly contemporary wit. Her scenes, from opulent interiors to genteel garden parties, recall the elegance of classical portraiture, yet something unsettling always stirs beneath the surface.

In Figgis’ world, silk gowns melt, faces blur, and laughter lingers somewhere between delight and unease. The familiar trappings of luxury and leisure are rendered almost ghostlike. A playful send-up of status and beauty through a lens that’s both haunting and irresistibly human.

Her work bridges eras and emotions: at once baroque and modern, refined and rebellious. Each piece invites you to look closer, to find the humour in the horror, and the poetry in the paint.