Natasha Archdale was born a left-handed dyslexic in London in 1976. Rather than read and write, she watched and drew. Historically she has found fascination in the shapes within the female nude and the shapes the body, as an entire machine, can make. She began to look closely at how the body might wrap itself around a yoga pose, how it settles when the muscles are utterly relaxed in sleep and in a ten year modelling career specialising in underwater work, how the image of her own body responded to different conditions and surroundings.

The newspaper nudes of this exhibition began with self-portraits created during an extensive convalescence after a car crash - newspapers, glue and a mirror were the only available materials. It started as an experiment but the flesh-coloured paper of the Financial Times lent itself to the shading and contours of a nude figure while the recycling element of using old newspapers is a conscious choice.

The work begins with a pencil line drawing. She then glues in sections of the Financial Times for the three dimensional aspect of the picture. The torn edges add a slight dreaminess to the uncompromising poses she depicts. On another level, smidgens of specifically selected articles - a picture, a headline, some text - leap out from the image adding depth and relevance to the mood or story of the individual picture.

This is Natasha's first exhibition and the Newspaper Nudes make for a raw and compelling debut.

The gallery page is currently being updated - new artwork coming soon...