CHANTEL OKWESA is an London-based artist. She has a deep interest in the physical act of painting and emotionality in art. After graduating from Goldsmiths University with a degree in Fine Art, Chantel worked as a creative facilitator, African Heritage tour guide and Educational coordinator. Her practice is rooted in the idea that painting can be a translation of language, that it can be used in a diaristic sense as a way of expanding feeling in a new dynamic way. She was awarded the Lewisham Arthouse Graduate Studio Award and Residency with a subsequent solo show “Abstract Diaries” after graduating in 2024. She has also exhibited at “The Graduate Art Show” at the Woolf Gallery, “Anonymous Drawings” at Kunstraum Kreuzberg, “Inside Job staff Biennale” at Tate Modern, ”For the Culture Festival” at Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and “Gradu- ate Art Exhibition” at Candid Arts Trust.

Okwesa uses painting to explore the visceral emotionality of colours and how they interact with each other. Her works search for the bridge between feeling and affect, asking how colour can be used as a mode of disruption or of agreement. Okwesa looks at how she can begin to create her own canons of colour interpretation within the work, how then can it be used as a tool to further the painting’s impression?

Each work acts as a visual expedition into the memory of feeling, finding colours within prickly scents, distant sounds and the warmth of the sun at 4pm. Okwesa is interested in how memory and feeling can often embed itself within associations of fleeting colour. How the memory of a prickly bush on the way home or a classroom in late July can find itself in transient auras of colour.

Website: https://www.chantelokwesa.com/ Instagram: @chantel_okwesa

VENETTA NICOLE creates visual scenes as a way to explore and share internal journeys—those often unseen emotional landscapes we all experience. Each piece is a reflection of introspection, inviting viewers from around the world into thoughtful and expansive conversations about self, emotion, and human connection.

Her work is intentionally ambiguous, challenging the viewer to reconsider what is prioritized in the visual space. Through harmonious patterns, symbolic motifs, and a bold, vibrant color palette, Venetta introduces a sense of movement and emotion in her compositions. Her narrative-driven approach to abstraction aims to guide viewers on their own internal journey of interpretation and reflection.

Venetta’s passion for abstract art stems from her ability to perceive what lies beyond the visible. She finds a profound connection between abstraction and the complexities of the world around us. Working primarily in mixed media—including acrylic, oil pastel, charcoal, and wood—she brings both depth and meaning to her canvas. Her style is a fusion of Abstract Art and Expres- sionism, focusing on the formal elements of color, shape, line, and texture to create non-rep- resentational works that evoke deep emotional responses.

In her most recent body of work, Venetta explores the intersection of architecture and abstraction. Using wood as her medium, she creates sculptural forms that emphasize pattern, texture, and rhythm. By cutting and assembling individual wooden pieces into abstract structures, she imbues each form with personality and character. Venetta embraces wood’s versatility—its ability to be stained, painted, or left raw—making it an ideal material for her exploration of form and space. Within these works, one can find subtle references to Bauhaus principles and Brutalist design, reinterpreted through a uniquely expressive lens.

Website: https://www.venettanicole.com Instagram: @venetta_nicole

SQFT:Space Gallery supporting the students of the MFA Curating course at Goldsmiths.