Hargreaves creates paintings that look to the past as a way of understanding the present —patchworking historical art movements and unsettling episodes from history into densely layered, imaginative scenes that feel strikingly relevant in today’s turbulent climate.
Her highly stylised approach draws inspiration from British interwar artists such as Edward Burra and Winifred Knights, blending the familiar with the uncanny. Hargreaves’ work to date has explored themes ranging from the early 20th-century wellness industry and fad diets, to the uneasy relationship between the natural world and industrialisation. Her current body of work renders the imagery of allotments and homegrown produce with the rigidity and uniformity of manmade structures — suggesting a surreal retreat from the chaos of contemporary life.
Born in 2000, Hargreaves is a South London-based painter. She earned a BA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths in 2022, followed by an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art in 2024. Her accolades include the Tooth Travelling Scholarship and the BAGT Open Founder’s Prize. She has also been a finalist for the ACS Studio Prize and the Valerie Beston Prize, and was shortlisted for the John Moores Painting Prize.