Unbound
Poppy De Havilland
2023
Oil on canvas
50 x 50 cm
The oil painting “Unbound” by Poppy De Havilland shows a person with outstretched arms and legs suspended in the air. Dressed in a close-fitting black shirt and black tights, the androgynous appearing protagonist wears white knee-length and very wide trousers over this leotard. This garment reminds antique men underpants (braies) or female underwear from the 19th century.
Perhaps these antiquated seeming trousers in combination with the high forehead might guide to think the landscape in the background could be Italian. This impression is underlined recalling portraits of the Renaissance. Obviously, Leonardo’s Mona Lisa poses in front of a landscape, but also Piero della Francesca placed the duchess and the duke of Urbino Battista Sforza and Federico da Montefeltro in front of a hilly panorama. There are many more examples. However, the presented landscape, in mute green shades, could also be elsewhere, since there are no landmarks visible. Maybe, there is the silhouette of a church or castle on the left frontal elevation. Yet, the idyllic background scenery is interrupted by the flat roof of a seemingly modern building in the foreground. Is this the point of departure for the liberating jump of the protagonist?
Though we might think of the before and the after of the frozen moment, the person remains suspended in the air as if time has stopped. This is provoked by the posture, which does not imply any movement to cling to something. Nevertheless, the figure is anchored in the painting. The widespread legs seem to span from the left frontal elevation to the hills in the right background, but without touching them. By the colour of a creamy white, the flat roof, the trousers and the lit side of the face are connected. Despite the contrast between black and white of the garment, the muted grey-blue gradient sky seems to integrate the figure: unbound but still connected.
This intermediate stage, the moment when time is suspended is for Poppy a space between stillness and motion, the threshold to revelation or transformation. The stillness already includes the future. Therefore, the figure is in a limbo which preludes new events or possibilities.
Poppy De Havilland
Born in 1996 in London, United Kingdom, Poppy De Havilland studied at the Wimbledon College of Art (UAL), where she obtained her Fine Art BA degree. Mainly, her creations are paintings. Additionally, she takes photographs during her frequent journeys. On one hand these images show portraits, landscapes or particular buildings; on the other hand, there are pictures from paintings by other renown artists like Fra Angelico, Pierro della Francesca, Ghirlandaio and Uccello. Moreover, she is interested in sculpture, mainly of the Renaissance.
These photographs are the source of inspiration for her paintings. This is partly reflected in the titles, composition and material. The earlier paintings are held in dark colours and are primarily portraits. However, the persons seem to vanish behind a diaphanous curtain. Her later painting “Noli me tangere” from 2019 revives this transparency. But the colour range is much more lightened, due to the evident model: Fra Angelico’s fresco with the same name. Even though the composition and colour shades are similar to the original, Magdalena and Jesus appear dissolved, which might be an expression for their transcendence.
In Poppy’s paintings from 2020 to 22 the protagonists, mostly animals, are also blurred, despite the bold colours. Here, a certain transcendence comes from the gold ground, which is a refence to earlier works from art history, even though the subjects are not always religious. The artist’s more recent paintings from 2023 on, abandon the gold ground and also the transparency of the characters. However, some protagonists attain their transcendence due to their state of suspense in the composition. An example is “Unbound” from 2023, which is our Artwork of the Month / June 2025. Generally, the colour range is lighter than in the early paintings, but still the artist uses a mute palette. A reference to her favourite renaissance artists in this series is the landscape in the background and the presentation of the persons. This could be the posture or the hairstyle.
Before painting with oil on canvas, Poppy works with AI diffusion models which are fed by her personal archive of artworks. From the results, she chooses appealing sections. Hereby, the artist’s focus is on rare psychological moments that resonate with her and on fragments that have a timeless quality. Consecutively, she refines the arisen images progressively and translates the digital concepts on the painting surface.
After her works have entered in various private collections, Poppy started to participate in group exhibitions. In 2024, her paintings were on view at the Women in Art Fair, London and at the Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica, United States. In September 2025, she will contribute to a collective show in Rome, Italy. Her first solo exhibition is scheduled for spring 2026 in Los Angeles, United States.
Poppy lives and works in London.