Jessica Dunn

Jessica Dunn is a British artist living and working in Portugal. Born in London to a family rooted in theatre and television, she took her own path in the visual arts and went on to complete a Foundation in Art and Design at Kingston University. Seeking a slower rhythm and a closer connection to nature, she later relocated to the Algarve in southern Portugal, where the region’s distinctive light and landscape remain central to her practice. From her studio in the hills of Boliqueime, she works primarily in oils and gold leaf to create abstract evocations of land, sea and sky. Dunn’s paintings draw deeply on the natural beauty of the Algarve — its shifting colours, heat, and luminosity — translating sensory experience into layered compositions of colour and texture. Her intuitive process transforms observation into abstraction, balancing movement and stillness within each work. She exhibits regularly in Portugal and the United Kingdom, including with The Sanctuary Gallery, Bobcat Gallery, and The Other Art Fair. Most recently, her work was selected for the ING Discerning Eye 2025. Dunn is represented by Tavira d’Artes Gallery in Portugal and is a member of ArtCan, an international artist-led organisation supporting contemporary artists, and of the Quinta Art Collective, a Portugal-based group of artists. Her work is held in private and public collections, including museum collections in Portugal.

My paintings are abstract impressions of land, sea, and sky, inspired by the changing light and atmosphere of the Algarve. The southern light is intense and shifting — it transforms colour, texture, and mood and I try to capture that energy and stillness in paint. Each piece begins as a response to my surroundings but quickly takes on a life of its own. I work in oil, oil stick, and gold leaf on aluminium, panel, or canvas, layering colour and texture until something familiar to emerge. The process is intuitive. I follow the marks and gestures as they evolve into places that feel both real and dreamlike. Gold leaf brings another dimension of light. It catches and reflects, sometimes glowing, sometimes fading, like sunlight. These works aren’t meant to represent a particular view. They’re about atmosphere, about how it feels to stand within a landscape and be completely surrounded by light and colour. I hope the paintings offer a moment of calm and connection, a sense of being lifted into another space