Sylvia Radford

Continuing my ballet series inspired by Poussin’s A Dance to the Music of Time (c. 1634–6), I donated this small piece in 2025, Dance to the Music of Time (2025), to my former art college, West Dean College.

Nestled in the beautiful West Sussex countryside between Chichester and Midhurst, West Dean College hosts its annual POSTAL fundraising sale every May. Proceeds directly support the fine art students’ final year exhibition, held both at the college and in London.

This specific work was influenced by Cambridge artist and poet John Lyons. His 2024 exhibition Carnivalesque at the Whitworth featured utterly superb, incredible paintings that deeply resonated with me.

The second piece is a study for a larger work titled In Our Chains. It references Dylan Thomas’ poem "Fern Hill" which, like Nicolas Poussin’s painting A Dance to the Music of Time, explores life’s fleeting moments and shifting fortunes.

Image 1: Dance to the Music of Time, 2025, oil on board, 35x25cm
Image 2: In Our Chains, 2025, Oil on linen, 60x76cm

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