Siobhan Stanley was born in Dublin, spent many years in London and is now based in St Leonards on Sea in East Sussex.
From the age of 11 she trained at The Royal Ballet School and gained a place in Sadlers Well Royal Ballet where she danced professionally as a Soloist for 15 years. Before her best years were behind her, she was keen to explore the contemporary dance scene in London and when the time was right, somewhat gleefully hung up her point shoes and joined Rambert Dance Company. Siobhan danced with RDC for 4 years until making her final break with dance in order to pursue an acting career. She enjoyed 8 years working in theatre, film and TV.
She then worked for Saatch & Saatch until establishing her own training and coaching business. It was running her own business that gave her the time and freedom to follow the awakening of a deep desire to explore art and most specifically, painting. Since 2012 Siobhan has immersed herself in the study of classical painting, spending time in Florence at both The Florence Academy of Art and Charles Cecil Studios, with further studies at The London Atelier of Representational Art and London Fine Art Studios. Her art education has been an ongoing blend of both formal and self-learning.
The focus of her largest body of work to date, 'Communion' is history, gender and power. Adopting the classical traditions of representational painting, she positions her contemporary themes and human subjects within historical settings. It is an exploration of the often unarticulated boundary that separates the 'invited' from the ‘uninvited’. She references and subverts the formally established representations of power and wealth within Elizabethan England by depicting a significant but rarely recorded group within that culture.
Other work explores the many expressions of classical painting; still lifes, portraits, master copies, landscapes, interiors. Current practise is exploratory in nature and utilises collage. The journey in the emergence of these pieces is a tug of both unplanned and crafted. The works explore a love of abandoned, degenerated spaces and the liminal imprints of nature as memory.
Art Education:
Charles Cecil Studios – Florence 2015 - 2016
London Fine Art Studio – 2014 – 2015
London Atelier of Representational Art - 2011 – 2013
Florence Academy of Art - Summer School 2012
Exhibitions:
New Gallery East Sussex 2023/2024
Baker Mamonova Gallery East Sussex 2023
Rogue Gallery East Sussex 2023
Rye Art Gallery 2022
Hastings Museum 2022
Hastings Contemporary 2021/22
Kino Teatr Art Gallery East Sussex 2021
New Gallery East Sussex 2021
A Wave of Dreams Clarement Studios East Sussex 2019
BlackShed Gallery East Sussex 2018
Leighton House – London 2016