Verity Woolley

Artist Bio

Verity Woolley (b. 2000) is a British painter living and working in South London. Working in oil on canvas, her practice explores gestural abstraction as a means of processing time, personal experience, and the act of painting itself. Woolley graduated with a BA in Fine Art Painting from Camberwell College of Arts, UAL (2022) and completed the TURPS Off-Site programme (2025). Her work has been exhibited widely across London and internationally, with recent shows including States of Becoming at Vestry Street Gallery, London (2026), Plastic Vision at ASC Studios and Cross Currents at Terrace Gallery, NYC. Her work is held in private collections in the UK, Europe, and the USA.

Interview

How long have you had your present studio?

I’ve been at ASC since 2023. Having a studio where I can work, be messy, and store my archive is essential to my painting practice – it’s the foundation everything else builds on.

What is your earliest memory of making an artwork?

One of my favourites is from around Year 3 – we were painting copies of Monet’s Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies in poster paint on A3 paper, which felt enormous at the time. I remember my teacher telling me that when the brush sounds scratchy on the page, you need more paint.

Can you name an artist who has been a constant inspiration for you and explain why?

Gillian Ayres – her attitude, the way she spoke about painting, her approach to colour. She was uncompromising in the best way.

If there was one creative person you could have dinner with from the past or present, who would you choose, why, and what kind of dinner would you plan?

Joan Mitchell – talking about painting, process, scale, colour, over a bottle of wine at mine.

In what ways has being part of a community of artists at ASC shaped your work?

Sharing the building with such creative and generous people has been really valuable – visiting each other’s studios, sharing knowledge, working on projects together. Even just having friendly faces around makes a difference.

What literature, news or other media inform your work?

A recent shift for me has been reading artists’ writing on Substack. There are some genuinely inspiring pieces published by tutors and artists – it’s become a good afternoon ritual at the studio, a way of getting a fresh perspective mid-week.

Do you perceive any ways that having access to a project space has been beneficial?

Beyond putting on exhibitions, having a clean gallery space to document work and stretch up larger canvases properly has made a real practical difference to how I work. 

What is the best under £10 purchase that has enhanced your work?

A paint tube wringer. Mine wasn’t quite under a tenner, but you can find them for less – and every painter should have one. You save money in the long run and there’s something deeply satisfying about getting every last bit out of the tube.

What are some challenges you experience as an artist living and working in London?

Access to affordable studio and exhibition space is a significant and growing barrier – London’s artist communities are extraordinary, but the city is changing fast, and as artists are pushed out of buildings earmarked for development it becomes harder to sustain a practice here. Beyond that: never quite having enough time, and never quite having enough paint.

What would you like to see more of in Lambeth (or London) that supports artists?

More meaningful government commitment to artist spaces – not short-term lets, but permanent action to secure buildings for cultural use across generations. The infrastructure that supports artists takes decade