Faye Eleanor Woods is a Scottish artist currently working out of the Calderdale Valley in West Yorkshire. Graduating from Gray’s School of Art in 2021, Woods' current work acts as a love letter to the much loved establishment - the British pub. To Woods the pub represents a state of emotional freedom where the act of dancing, singing and drunken debauchery transcends time itself. The pub is a representation of the inner psyche, the room within rooms that is teetering on the edge of disaster and joy.
The artworks exhibited here show Woods’ fascination with local folklore. Based on a tale of Lady Sybil, a shape-shifting witch who frequented the moors above the artist’s studio, these paintings depict the dark tale of selling one’s soul for what they love, only for it to be ripped away. Contrastingly, this time the work doesn’t depict a 17th century aristocrat but instead Woods has created a wild woman. A tangible representation of the pub - a drunk cut down in her prime.
