Victoria Cantons T̶r̶a̶n̶s̶g̶e̶n̶d̶e̶r̶ Woman No.3, 2021

This striking self-portrait is from British artist Victoria Cantons’ Transgender Woman series, a thematic cycle of large paintings tracking her own transgender history and reflecting on what it means to be a woman.  Working from a personal archive of photographs made over a period of more than a decade in the years before, during, and after intensive facial surgery, Cantons’ paintings present a record of trauma and healing, alongside a rigorous inquiry into the social constraints surrounding gender politics. Painted and sequenced non-chronologically, the works weave a story that extends to the present day, reflecting on the vulnerability of the body and the empowering action of physical transformation.

Victoria Cantons (b.1969, British), lives and works in London. She studied Fine Art Painting at Wimbledon College of Arts, UAL; followed by the Painters Studio Programme, Turps Art School, London; and graduated with an MFA in Painting from Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, in 2021. She is a recipient of the Felix Slade Scholarship, Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, and was shortlisted for the Chadwell Award in 2021. Recent group exhibitions include Tomorrow: London, White Cube, (online); Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London, PAPA RAGAZZE, Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles, Like there is hope and I can dream of another world, Hospital Rooms, London and (It's My Party) I Can Cry If I Want To, Guts Gallery, London. Cantons curated the Slade Rooms as part of LONDON GRADS NOW 2020 and 2021, Saatchi Gallery, London. Cantons first exhibited at Flowers as part of the 24th Edition of Artist of the Day in 2018, and had her first solo exhibition with the gallery, People Trust People Who Look Like Them, in 2022.