Louise McNaught

Toxic Beauty

2020

Louise McNaught is an English painter, born in 1984. She completed her fine art degree B.Sc. honors in 2012 at the University of Greenwich. She has continued to work as a professional artist ever since, with international representation. Louise‘s creations feature nature, animals and the celestial realm in glorious, blazing neon hues, where the animals are godlike, sublime and ethereal in their luminescence. 

McNaught’s work is motivated by emotive and spiritual experiences which have manifested in a mixed-media approach. Her soft style suggests a delicate relationship between nature and ourselves. When focusing on endangered species, the imagery often takes on a duality of not only what is happening to the animal itself but also reflects how we feel psychologically about the effect the human race is having on these species. By subverting traditional representation McNaught hints at darker consequences, yet paradoxically giving animals an elevated status. Her animals are a medium for self-expression, as lack of context and background suspends the creatures in an internal or even numinous space, where they become a metaphor for the human condition and psyche. Just as we use highlighters to mark areas of importance, McNaught is doing this with fluorescent media. By drawing the viewer’s attention to the animal’s presence and energy, McNaught is hoping to share with the viewer the awe that the natural world inspires within her. "Her work presents a pleasant balance between traditional technique and new age spunk," says Quiet Lunch magazine.