Naomi Boiko
Overview
“Central to my paintings are depictions of vulnerability and young women; a reflection of my dual role as both a young woman and a parent figure to my sister". - Naomi Boiko
Through painting, Naomi Boiko explores personal and familial memories. Predicted on reconciling an experience of loss, each of her pieces draws its title and subject matter from conversations with her late mother, or recent moments shared with her younger sister. Existing as fragmented narratives, her small works feature recurring characters and symbols that whisper barely decipherable stories to invite the viewer in.
Frequently foregrounding depictions of vulnerability and girlhood, her practice is a tool through which Boiko reflects upon her dual roles as both a young woman and a maternal figure to her teenage sister, who is herself navigating adolescence. Through painting, she revists her own coming-of-age experiences, while investigating the confusion and isolation inherent in this transitional phase, and ultimately working towards collective familial healing.
Intimate in scale, Boiko’s delicate works are born in a domestic studio where the lines between art and life are intrinsically blurred; a realm where the personal easily bleeds onto the canvas. Working sensitively in watercolour on stretched canvas, her paintings deliberately remain unfixed and ephemeral - untethered from any fixed form or easily identifiable narrative, the immensely personal stories contained within are instead predicated on their ability to drift in and out of focus.
Biography
Naomi Boiko (b. 2000, UK) lives and works in Bedford, UK. She graduated with a BA in Fine Art: Painting from the University of Brighton (2022). Her work has been featured in group exhibitions by galleries and curatorial projects including: Delphian Gallery, London (2024, 2023); La Causa Gallery, Madrid (2024); ARC Padstow curated by Anna Woodward, Cornwall (2023); Crypt Gallery, London (2023); Pictorum, London (2023); Pilgrims Contemporary, Keswick (2023); Gallerie V, Cambridge (2023, 2022) and Tube Culture Hall, Milan (2023) among others. In 2023, she undertook the Goodeye Projects Spring Residency in London.
Exhibitions
Works
