Lot 383 - Celia Mora - My Favourite Thing

Oil on paper
2025
A6 (10x15cm)
Original Artwork
Signed on Verso
Curated by Art on a Postcard

About

Celia Mora is a Spanish painter living and practicing painting in London. She completed her studies in Fine Arts at the Complutense University of Madrid (2013). She was awarded an Erasmus Scholarship to study at the University of Arts London (2017), establishing her residence in the UK. She finished her studies in 2018, receiving an award on graduation. Her works are held in private collections, including The Four Seasons Hotel, in Madrid. She was awarded the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation grant to pursue her Master studies at Royal College of Arts in 2022. She has again received the support from the foundation with a second grant to carry on with her studies at Turps Art School 2023/2024. She has currently got Zsuzsi Roboz Scholarship by Morley College to support her practice. Also, a three-month studio residency at Soho Revue Studios in London.

Education

2023
MA Painting, Royal College of Arts, London

2018
BA Fine Arts, Complutense University, Madrid

2013
BA Advertising and Public Relations, Complutense University, Madrid

Group Exhibitions

2024
The Eve Principle, Norito Gallery, London

Startled, Lychee one Gallery, London

Southpark Gallery, London
Soma, Duo show, Outhouse Gallery, London

Walk while you have the light, Safe House, London

Vessel, OHS Projects

Jackson’s Art Prize, Bankside Gallery, London

Leavers show, Turps studio program, London

Contemporary British Portrait Painters, The Department Store, London

Boundaries, Outhouse Gallery, London

Nausea, Playground 72, London

Jackson’s Art prize, Bankside Gallery, London

Slip Slap Slop, Turps studio program, London

A room of one’s own, Irving Gallery, Oxford

2023
Road of excess, Safe house 2, London

Crème Fraiche, ICA, London

MA Graduate Show, RCA Battersea, London

Figurativas Prize, European Museum of Modern Art Barcelona, Spain

Miradas insumisas, Flippa Gallery, Barcelona, Spain

Unladylike, D Contemporary, London

Awards

2025

Soho Revue Studio Residency Program, London

2024/25

Morley College, Zsuzsi Roboz Scholarship

2024

Turps Studio program, London

Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant

Statement about AOAP Submitted Artwork

From a genuine interest in the depiction of the human figure, through my taken inspiration in the old masters, I redefine the visual codes that configure our interpretation and given unconscious understanding of the images. Taking the male body as a subject and my partner as a model, I place myself in the empowered position of the painter, redefining the idea of the “muse” from the first act of painting. I play with the depiction of the male body as an attempt to subtly challenge notions of beauty and masculinity, exploring its representation through the classical painting aesthetics of figuration and still life. Each work is an attempt to question the subjectivity of the body in relation with the stereotypes of the gender, by pushing the visual boundaries on the depiction of its shapes, cropping, submitting or objecting the body. Concepts of love and control, agency, and intimacy come across my practice creating and entangled web of images directly related to my lived experiences. By exploring the male figure, I get to experiment with all the decisions that depicting someone else’s body implies, and to get a deeper understanding on my own power role in the process. In the work, I seek to analyse the ways in which we experience the other’s body, playing with the nuances in between comfort and consent. From extreme body positions to the juxtaposition with other elements used as symbolic prompts, I have been producing images that deliberately challenge normative ideas of what masculinity might be, as well as purposely complicating and undermining them.

In my most recent practice, I am interested on how male-gazed narratives have limited our perspective and understanding of the world. By visually prioritizing seemingly insignificant objects, I aim to give voice to the untold and break away from a singular worldview. The vases—objects that can be filled, carried, or destroyed— act as symbols to re-signify the male form just by placing them together. Reclaiming the classical painting language, I depict these elements to question the gaze and examine the given narratives that shape our visual perception of gender. These objects reformulate the compositional aspects of each image, distorting the human form and pushing toward abstraction when viewed from a close distance. Through this process, I aim to question conventional representation norms, satirizing gender stereotypes challenging their biased construction.