Maisy Romero-Cross

BA Fine Art student currently studying at Central Saint Martins.
Her work explores identity, primarily through the lens of being a twin, bringing a refreshing new perspective to the topic by showcasing her own personal experience of being simultaneously an individual and a collective. This, paired with an interest in folklore has led Maisy’s work to take from and reference the genre of folk horror, a genre that often features a closed community and an outsider. The idea of a collective hivemind is reflected in Maisy’s experience being a twin.

Being from Cornwall, national identity and folk traditions also play a role in Maisy’s paintings. Her work constantly confronts the inherent danger within finding beauty in national folk traditions suggesting how it could perhaps lean too far towards nationalism and xenophobia, and so juxtaposes this beauty with the grotesque, bodily and unnerving, to highlight and unsettle certain cliches hinting towards darker implications.

A few other concepts Maisy’s work grapples with are themes of melancholia, isolation and existentialism and although they may not the primary concern of her work, they are all feelings she hopes to imparts on the viewer.