Elsa Rouy’s (b.2000; Sittingbourne, UK) semi-autobiographical paintings use the figure to disrupt boundaries to explore multifaceted experiences of personhood. The characters consistently find themselves in situations that straddle the uneasy territory between suffering and pleasure. Rouy’s paintings raise themes of femininity, control, destruction, desolation, evolution and catharsis. Through this, she addresses and navigates the anxieties associated with having and being aware of one’s own body. Rouy’s artwork attempts to explore the dynamics of societal and internal power structures, as well as the fluidity of existence.