Gemma Carpenter (b. 2004) is a Kirkcaldy based artist working in Dundee. She is inspired by human immunology, infection, and the psychology of illness. Through her paintings, she explores how internal conditions manifest and how they challenge our understanding of both the body and beauty. She depicts abstract human figures subtly infected by tumour-like fungal growths: blurring the boundaries between life and decay, self and other - transforming them into potent symbols of both fragility and resilience. Through her use of fungi, she explores themes of autoimmunity, tumours and the alienation of living within an untrustworthy body. An ethereal colour palette is used to further contrast these themes, rendering the body hauntingly flawed and fallible. In this way, she challenges the perception of disease as something ugly and shameful, instead presenting it as a force of nature; beautiful, invasive, and alive.
By mixing real life human emotion with the abstract nature of infection and disease, she builds on the work of artists Laura Footes, Henrik Uldalen and Simon Faithfull to create a balance between ‘the visceral’ and ‘the beautiful’, conveying a feeling of uneasiness within the viewer. Her practice seeks to make the unseen visible and provoke dialogue around the lived experience of illness. Using primary and academic research, she brings attention to conditions often ‘unseen’ to the naked eye.