"Painting, like gardening, is the conducting of an orchestra; of time and tempo, thick to thin, minutiae and sweeping scale, repeated and familiar versus new and unknown."
Beatrice Hasell-McCosh’s practice is rooted in sustained observation of the natural world, through which she explores cyclicality, feminism, narrative, and geographic memory alongside the physical presence of paint. Drawing sits at the core of her work: closely studied images made from life form the foundation for large-scale paintings developed in the studio.
These initial studies of leaves, plants, and organic structures are not translated directly. Instead, Hasell-McCosh works between observation and recollection, allowing memory and scale to reshape the imagery. Botanical forms flatten and expand, shifting emphasis away from representation toward compositional structure and the expressive potential of colour and paint. Moving from the watercolour studies to the large scale oils, the subject matter recedes as materiality comes to the fore. Negative spaces expand, marks take on an architectural quality, and the pictorial surface becomes a site of physical and sensory engagement. What emerges is a visual language that references nature while remaining open and dynamic.
Varied brushwork - from fine, linear marks to dense passages of impasto - allows the paintings to move beyond delicate depiction. Familiar natural forms are pushed toward abstraction, inviting the viewer to navigate moments of recognition and uncertainty.
Beatrice Hasell-McCosh (b.1990, UK) studied English and Classics at the University of Leeds, before completing two years of study at Leith School of Art in Edinburgh and the Royal Drawing School in London. Recent solo exhibitions include ‘Monotypes’ at Messums, London (2025) and ‘Andante’, curated by Jenn Ellis at St Cyprians Church, London (2024). Her work has been featured in a number of group exhibitions, including ‘Table Manners’ at Barbati Gallery, Venice, Italy curated by Pia Ottes (2026); ‘Stage II’ at Bay Art, Cardiff, UK; ‘The Peace of The Wild Things’ at Soho Revue, London, UK; ‘Scene XII: Eden’ at Matt Carey-Williams, London,UK (2025); and ‘Terra’, curated by Jenn Ellis and Emie Diamond across historic sites in Burgundy, France (2024). Her work is held in several public collections, including the Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama, USA; Hauser and Wirth (The Groucho Club), London; the Garden Museum, London; the Ligabue Foundation, Venice, Italy; and the Royal Collection Trust, UK.
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Dinner and a Show
