Catherine Chambers

Dead Soldiers
2026
Oil on canvas
152 x 122cm

So pleased to have this work recieve an honourable mention by @wolfsoncollegeoxford for “whose work prompted particularly thoughtful discussion during the judging process”
Big thanks to artist @eileen_cooper_ra and art collector @christian_levett for considering the work for the Wolfson Collection.

The painting was also considered for the @womeninartprize__ this year

Dead Soldiers came from watching children play ‘Sleeping Lions’ on a lawn. My initial thought as I glanced at them was “they look dead”. That reflex bothered me because images of children in conflict are now so constant in the news and on social media.

I later discovered the game was once called ‘Dead Soldiers’. This led to further ways childhood can be taken too soon. I used the title to prompt viewers to notice the link I had, and to question how quickly distance collapses between a quiet field and a wider world.

The painting leans into this unsettling duality. The saturated greens of the grass and the clear, idyllic daylight aim to evoke a pure childhood afternoon. Yet, beneath the protective canopy of the tree, the sprawling, unmoving postures of the children take on an eerie permanence.

The work challenges the emotional distance we keep from distant grief.
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@women_in_art__
#figurativepainter #contemporaryart #artnow #frieze #children