Nettie Wakefield is renowned for her “Reverse Portraits” series. Her textured, surrealist drawings explore identity through hair, fur, and feathers, drawing on art history and symbolism.
Nettie Wakefield is a British pencil artist working in London. Nettie has reached wide recognition from her “Reverse Portraits” series of works. Nettie both has classical and art historical training.
Nettie spent summers at the Charles Cecil studios in Florence, working on the sight size technique, which privileges the study of light and shadow as a way to define form. This training is still very tangible in her work now. Nettie captures an incredible sense of movement and vivacity in the textures which she describes. She also completed a foundation year at Chelsea College of Art, a BA in Art History at Leeds University and her Masters degree in Drawing at Wimbledon College of Art.
Nettie started her very successful “Reverse Portraits” series whilst at university: she describes sitting in a lecture, with her mind drifting and starting to draw the back of the head of the person sitting in front of her. This spontaneous act of wittiness turned into a larger body of work, which she is now celebrated for.
Nettie’s practice concentrates on the description of textures such as hair, fur and feathers to characterise identity. She offers the viewer a conceptualised version of what a ‘portrait’ is. Her renderings are surrealist in nature. One is brought back to works such as “Object” by Meret Oppenheim, a teacup, saucer and spoon covered with gazelle fur. Like Oppenheim, her medium becomes the value of the work. In Nettie’s drawings, a single pencil mark becomes a strand of hair, the material being at one with what it represents. It is a perfect representation of the principle of form and matter.
Nettie about drawing: “There is no hiding with pencil, it’s the source of the stream.”
The artist’s work also has strong art historical references, as it reflects upon the value of what hair represents and its symbolism through the ages. The Biblical tale of Samson and Delilah comes to mind, where hair is associated with strength and power: the account states that Samson was given immense strength to aid him against his enemies and allow him to perform superhuman feats. However, if Samson’s hair were cut, he would lose his strength. Samson is then betrayed by his lover Delilah. Other images come to mind, such as Botticelli’s and Cabanel’s representations of “Birth of Venus”. In those images, the long hair is part of the goddess’s identity and nature. Hair becomes a symbol of eternal life, a reminder of mortality and immortality.
Nettie’s work is in several acclaimed collections, such as Damien Hirst’s and the Groucho club. Her work was included in Banksy’s Dismaland show and more recently in the re opening of the National portrait Gallery.
