This piece depicts two masculine built figures about to fight within a forest; wearing animal inspired head-masks and blue jean shorts. The animal head-masks call to British pagan rituals and mythology, bringing forward old ideas about our connection to the land and nature. ‘Masculine’ archetypal animals were chosen to echo these characters ‘dominating’ portrails. A firey red colour carries their body's and their confrontation. Paintings by Francisco De Goya and Lovis Conrith helped me shape their poses, muscles and fat. The modern clothing and hidden items falling out of their jean pockets acts as a time stamps, bringing this interaction into the modern day through humour. This invented scene deals with themes to do with toxic masculinity, rituals, gender identity and history, from my perspective as a woman.

Julia Pomeroy, London (b.1998), is based in London at ACME studios, Walthamstow; and her heritage comes from Scotland, Central Ireland and Britain. Pomeroy completed her MFA at City and Guilds London School of Art in 2024 with the Leverhulme Scholarship. Pomeroy has exhibited with The Koppel Project, The Florence Trust, Auto Amor and others. She was longlisted for the Women in Art prize this year.

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Pomeroy’s heritage and dual experiences of growing up in London and studying in Yorkshire, informed her love of landscape alongside understanding the consumerist societal perspective. She clashes the contemporary humans' relationship with nature and the object-materialist modern world through vibrant colour, gestural mark-making and moments of realism. Playing with the versatility of oil paint, these methods depict underlying psychologies against tangible physicality. Overall, challenging a sense of place and stability. Adventure and engagement with nature, and its connection with mental health, are key themes in her practice.

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