Tori Pounds

Tori Pounds (UK, 1995) is an English painter based in West Sussex. Her works encounter the alien and the familiarity of nostalgic items and snapshots of time, a game of cat and mouse between the real and surreal, all characterised through layering techniques of oil paint on canvas. In her work, semi-surreal paintings explore the way in which objects can hold memory and the ultimate unreliability of looking back. Visuals are cropped and blurred to encourage the viewer to fill in the gaps with their own nostalgia.
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Tori Pounds

Artist Statement

"My work explores the loss of childhood in an attempt to recreate moments through paint on canvas. Influenced by dark surrealist films, coming-of-age pieces, and puppetry in theatre, I paint still screenshots of my surroundings to grapple with questions about my own life and my journey with grief."

"Drawing from everyday life, I stage compositions with props and distort them to blend imagination with representation. This approach creates familiar yet otherworldly works that invite viewers into ambiguous and emotionally charged narratives. The maternal figure appears in domestic interiors and intimate family dynamics, a recurring theme linked to my relationship with loss and motherhood.  There’s a suggestion of surreal existence and further questions about my reality, a quest to reclaim what was lost from my own childhood."