Film is renowned for deception, trickery and illusion and my experience working within the industry, feeds into my fine art practice. These simulated modes of reality leave me questioning where the truth of what we see really lies.

Through the lens of Baudrillard’s notion of ‘simulation’ and the ‘hyperreal’, I am exploring the possibilities of truth versus trickery and the physical world converging with the virtual. 

Assuming the role of a product photographer, I style household ingredients and discarded packaging together with sculpted forms. These worlds are then photographed and rendered in oil paint on wood.  The panels take on a scenic architectural existence.

The process of painting enables me to give attention to and elevate the mundane. I continue to question the transition from photograph to painting.  The alchemical, physical quality of paint forces me to make new decisions and therefore, resolve problems. Pigment connects my work to the earth. I am spreading mud on a surface and the meditative act of this, transports me to another world. I use light, from lens flare to a glistening twinkle, to reveal, highlight, break boundaries and observe. I experiment with thin layers of paint and coloured grounds to achieve a glow. 

I am driven by a need to understand the human condition, our connection to nature and the consequences of such a relationship for our future existence in this unpredictable, fragile world.

Nina Ogden is a Welsh artist based in London. She received her BA in painting from Wimbledon College of Arts and has recently completed her Master’s degree in Painting at the Royal College of Art supported by the Paul Desty scholarship.