Ever since Latchford was a small child she has always made art. She says that corny and cliched as it might sound, it is as much a part of her as walking, eating or breathing and is a language through which she expresses herself.  Latchford grew up in Dalkey, a small village in county Dublin, but has lived and worked in Wexford for the last twenty years or so. Both areas are by the sea and this has always been a huge part of her life. Growing up, the artist’s father had a small fishing boat which if she wasn’t in – chances are she was helping to strip and repaint it.  The smell of turps, despite being a constant in her studio, instantly transports her back to this every time she opens a bottle. Seemingly never-ending hot summers were spent fishing and going back and forth to Dalkey island, where she and her friends explored the ruins of the old fort and had all sorts of adventures, imagining they were one of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five. They swam in the small cove whilst their mums sat chatting,  picnic’ing -keeping a watchful eye.  It is hardly a surprise given the enormous influence of the sea in her life- that if found its way into her work.  Latchford’s beach themed paintings stem from a mixture of these memories merged with more recent times spent on the gorgeous Curracloe beach, close to where she lives in Wexford.  (You might know it as the beach that Saving Private Ryan was filmed on). She observes people lost in thought, digging sandcastles, running, chatting, swimming – generally doing what we all do on a beach- and she translates their gestures into paintings. Whilst the places are inherently part of her, it is primarily the figure that she is interested in, rather than the landscape – which she abstracts and simplifies, breaking it down into blocks of colour.  Another strand within her work is portraiture. She likes and is interested in people and their stories-simple as – and that is why she find painting them so intriguing.

Bio:

Latchford holds a BA (hons) in Art. Originally from Dublin, she now lives and works in Wexford. She was recipient of an Artlinks bursary in 2018 and of County Wexford Arts Department’s Tyrone Guthrie award in 2014. She has been awarded primary school residencies under the auspices of the Living Arts Project in 2014, 2106, 2017 and in 2018. She works as a facilitator within County Wexford Arts Department Arts Ability programme.

Short Statement:

Latchford’s painting practice, which is predominately figurative, has for many years explored the theme of memory. She grew up by the sea in Dalkey, County Dublin but now lives and works in Wexford. The sea has always played a large part in her life- and is around which many memories are based. Recently, an interest in climate change has informed her work. Seemingly unconnected areas of research each serve as a metaphor for the other – both are subject to a type of erosion.

Family loss – erosion of memories and erosion of the very places many of these memories are rooted in – has inspired her current body of work.

Since 2019, a pink line has become a recurring motif within her work, wrapping itself protectively around people and memories – linking both to places in a very visual way. Aesthetically it pleases her as it interrupts the work, adding an element of abstraction and stopping it being read as a straightforward scene.

She works mainly in oils on canvas, wood panels and ceramic tiles – and acrylics when working on Perspex.

Latchford’s paintings are in collections in Ireland, Europe, USA and Hong Kong.

In 2022 she had a solo show, SPF 50, in the Creative Hub, Wexford and was part of a group show in Wex-Art (Office for art) curated by Anya von Gosseln. She currently has work in Wide Open Space, County Hall, Wexford, curated by Eamonn Maxwell.

Recent exhibitions include the society of Woman Artists Annual Exhibition, London and Sceilini in Paint, Hong Kong.

She was selected for Wexford Arts Centre’s MAKEcurate programme 2022. As part of that had a conversation about her practice in front of an audience, as part of her show SPF 50, with curator and art historian Catherine Marshall. You can see it here https://youtu.be/0goLoCYNJjE

“The longer you look at an object, the more abstract it becomes, and, ironically, the more real”

Lucian Freud.