EMOTIONS Igniting

Taking inspiration from life, landscape and mind, Freire Selwood-Miller explores her chosen subjects through both painting and drawing

Abstract artist Freire Selwood-Miller’s work is a joyous fusion. On the one hand, her largescale abstracts burst with colour, inspired by Cornwall’s ever-changing natural land, sky and seascapes and her travels across the ocean. On the other, sweeps of Indian ink and charcoal depict the human form with minimal strokes creating organic shapes offering the hint of a pose or movement.

Growing up in Dorset, Freire has drawn and painted since she could hold a pen. Moving to Cornwall to study at Falmouth University for a degree in Performance Sportswear Design, Freire’s early career took her to Bordeaux, France as a designer for an ethical yoga brand. She then spent four years working on superyachts across the Mediterranean and around the Caribbean, an experience that has subsequently informed her abstracts capturing the emotions, movements and hues of the sea. However, it has always been a love of the human form, and in particular the female body that has captivated Freire: “I’m fascinated by the shapes a body can make and love to play with shadow and light. I specifically like dancers and movement, but I like to recreate that movement quite minimally within a piece.”

Freire works mostly in oil, attracted to its pliability, movement and ability to build up texture: “I don't often use just brushes. I like to use rags or sponges, and sometimes even old-fashioned mops. It’s about being experimental with texture. With the nudes, I turn to Indian ink, graphite and charcoal as well as using paint to draw the lines.” www.freireselwood-miller.art @freiresm_artist

Working from her studio in north Cornwall, a recent collaborative exhibition saw Freire and five other artists come together for an exhibition in the space: “It really has been an absolute joy to put on this show and share my studio with others, something I have wanted to do for a while. It was a fantastic way to end the year.” Freire also exhibited at Form Falmouth last year, a new annual festival which celebrates the visual arts heritage and vibrant creative culture of Falmouth. Looking ahead, a female empowerment project will see Freire investigate and celebrate the human form, studying the lines and shapes created by dancers at a Trurobased dance school for a new body of work.

A selection of Freire’s current work can be seen at Bluntrock Brewery in Rock and has also been commissioned to grace the walls of four luxury holidays properties at Bogee Farm near Wadebridge.

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