73. Caroline Cornelius - Lost Letter

2026
Watercolour and pencil on paper
12 x 17 cm

Caroline Cornelius is a UK-based artist whose work explores the female form, ageing, maternal relationships and the fragile, transient nature of life. Having recently completed postgraduate study at the Royal Drawing School, her practice combines figuration with emotionally charged colour and texture, creating paintings that feel both intimate and cinematic. Working largely from memory, Cornelius uses colour, saturation and atmosphere to evoke emotional states and abstract senses of place, producing works that examine the visibility and invisibility of women shaped by societal expectations.

Her paintings balance tenderness and unease, often reflecting on the complexity of motherhood, ageing and identity. Through layered surfaces and luminous palettes, Cornelius creates images that feel suspended between memory and invention, familiarity and estrangement.

Cornelius studied at the Chelsea School of Art before completing a BA in Fashion Design with Printed Textiles at the University of Brighton. In 2023–2024 she undertook The Drawing Year postgraduate programme at the Royal Drawing School, culminating in The Best of the Drawing Year 2023 exhibition at Christie's in 2024.

Her work has been widely exhibited in the UK and internationally, including at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 2021 and 2023. Recent exhibitions include presentations at Villa Alba Museum (2025), Prince and Pilgrim, Royal Watercolour Society exhibitions, and Blue Shop Cottage. She has also exhibited with Lilya Gallery, Irving Contemporary and the Federation of British Artists at the Mall Galleries.

In 2022, Cornelius was elected an associate member of the Royal Watercolour Society and received the Daler Rowney Award. Her work is held in the Royal Collection and the collection of the Royal Watercolour Society.