After rebuilding my practice following maternity and a relocation to Liverpool, I have begun developing work that feels more emotionally and formally ambitious. The award would provide the time, space, and resources to explore this shift fully, culminating in an exhibition of larger-scale, experimental paintings accessible to Darlington’s communities. My work explores universal, emotionally charged experiences, those fleeting, unspoken moments that connect us all.
My paintings are rooted in everyday glimpses, drawn from personal photographs taken during reflective or transitional states. These images hover between figuration and abstraction, with forms emerging and dissolving through layered brushwork and negative space. I want to push this further, creating more open, psychologically resonant works that hold space for ambiguity, atmosphere, and scale.
Two key areas of experimentation will be scale and surface. I am particularly drawn to working on aluminium, intrigued by its reflective properties, its ability to catch shifting light, hold glazed colour, and evoke qualities of glass or memory. These material qualities align with my interest in presence and absence, the fragile nature of perception, and how light can act both emotionally and symbolically. Working at a larger scale would allow these ideas to become more immersive and spatial, inviting the viewer into a heightened sensory experience.
The £10,000 bursary would fund:
Dedicated studio time to test aluminium panels, surface preparations, and large-scale formats
Research visits to public and domestic spaces with personal or sensory significance
A series of exploratory studies on paper and metal, leading to larger final works
Critical dialogue and exchange with artists working at the intersection of memory, abstraction, and material
The production and exhibition of a new, ambitious body of work developed during the two years
The bursary would be carefully allocated to cover studio rent, specialist materials such as aluminium, glazing and painting mediums, research travel, and exhibition production costs.
The final exhibition would be developed with accessibility and emotional connection in mind, offering Darlington’s communities space to reflect on their own memories, identities, and inner lives. My paintings invite a quiet kind of looking; they ask viewers to slow down, notice what emerges in stillness, and find their own associations in the play between light, absence, and form. This would be supported by a series of workshops and engagement events, designed to extend the project’s reach and create meaningful points of connection within the community.
This would be a bold and contemplative expansion of my practice, and an opportunity for reflection, serious experimentation, and deepened connection with both place and people
My work offers a quiet, emotionally resonant form of engagement, one that invites reflection, stillness, and connection through painting. I believe this sensibility could contribute meaningfully to Darlington’s cultural ecology by offering a contemplative counterbalance to faster, louder forms of public interaction. Through the Dover Prize, I would develop a body of large-scale, experimental paintings that speak to universal experiences, transition, memory, and perception, and make them accessible to Darlington’s diverse communities through a sensitively staged exhibition.
I am a qualified art educator, and would draw on this experience to support the community dimension of the project, developing inclusive, artist-led events that invite shared looking, open interpretation, and creative response. I’m particularly interested in showing work in non-traditional or hybrid spaces, including civic sites like Darlington’s Civic Theatre, making contemporary painting more approachable to those who may not typically visit galleries.
By bringing ambitious, materially innovative painting to the area, and fostering intimate forms of engagement, I hope to contribute to Darlington’s cultural landscape in a way that is both thoughtful and grounded. This project is not about spectacle, but about resonance, not just visibility, but depth. I want the work to stay with people, to feel held and remembered.
My painting practice explores stillness, light, and the fragile presence of everyday things. I work primarily in oil on paper and board, using a pared-back process where images are built up and rubbed away. Often, the lightest areas remain untouched, allowing light to emerge through absence rather than depiction. My subjects, such as lamps and light fittings, are ordinary to the point of invisibility, but through painting they become suspended and charged with a quiet tension. My upcoming solo exhibition After Hours brings together a new body of work that continues this exploration. These paintings focus on familiar light sources, rendered in loose, fluid brushwork. Forms hover on the edge of recognition, evoking an atmosphere of uncertainty and heightened attention. I don’t see these objects just as fixtures, but as still points in spaces that are otherwise always shifting, physical anchors around which change and memory gather. The title After Hours reflects the mood of the work, a suspended time where overlooked moments become heightened, almost reverent. The paintings rest in this atmosphere, offering space for the unresolved, the fragile, and the almost-seen. A painting from this series was recently selected for the Royal West of England Academy’s 2025 Biennial Works on Paper exhibition, and I have also been selected to exhibit in The Drawing (Paper) Show at the Bridewell in July 2025. Another piece has been selected for the first stage of the John Moores Painting Prize. I studied at the Royal Academy Schools in London from 2005 to 2008, and was shortlisted for Bloomberg New Contemporaries in 2009, as well as the John Moores Painting Prize in both 2012 and 2025. I’ve exhibited with APT Gallery (Creekside Open, 2013) and other UK venues. I gained a PGCE in Secondary Art and Design, and have worked in various educational institutions including Windsor Girls’ School. I was also a visiting tutor at Brompton College and the University of the West of England. Following maternity and a family relocation to Liverpool, I took time to reflect and reorient my practice. Over the past two years I’ve begun to rebuild it with greater clarity and ambition, returning to exhibiting with a renewed focus on atmosphere, perception, and material presence. This new work brings a quiet intensity to long-standing themes, exploring how painting can hold memory, emotion, and a sense of something just out of reach.
From 2005 to 2008, I studied at the Royal Academy Schools in London, completing a postgraduate diploma. The course was an intensive, studio-based programme with a strong emphasis on critical dialogue, experimentation, and peer-led learning. During my time there, I developed a focused painting practice and engaged deeply with the material and conceptual concerns that continue to underpin my work. I was awarded a Distinction for my written dissertation, An Investigation into the Allegorical within Contemporary Art, which explored how narrative and metaphor function in visual language.
The programme was led by prominent painters such as Maurice Cockrill and Vanessa Jackson, with visiting tutors including Peter Doig. Art theorists like JJ Charlesworth contributed to the academic environment, providing critical perspectives that enriched our understanding of contemporary art practices.
Prior to this, I completed a BA (Hons) in Fine Art and Visual Culture at the University of the West of England, Bristol, graduating in 2004 with a 2:1. The course combined practical studio work with theoretical studies in contemporary and historical visual culture.
I also hold a PGCE in Secondary Art and Design from the Institute of Education (2014), completed at Master’s level. This education has shaped my development as both an artist and an art educator, grounding my practice in reflection, analysis, and meaningful engagement with others.
Yes, I have received a number of professional awards and acknowledgements in support of my painting practice. I have twice been shortlisted for the prestigious John Moores Painting Prize (2012 and 2025), and have been the recipient of several other notable awards including the Steiner Painting Award, the Richard Ford Travel Award, and the Dover Arts Club Excellence in Drawing Award.
Other recognitions include the Edna Wise Figuration Prize, the Chenevière Travel Award, and a three-year sponsorship from the Lady Sharon Walker Trust. These awards have supported the development of my work through travel, research, and dedicated studio time, and have played a significant role in the evolution of my practice.
Early on, I was nominated for the Aiden Threlfall Scholarship and Bloomberg New Contemporaries, and in 2008 received a distinction for my dissertation at the Royal Academy Schools. I have also worked as a visiting tutor and juror, including at the University of the West of England and the Royal Academy’s A Level Summer Exhibition.
Collectively, these awards and professional opportunities have affirmed my ongoing commitment to painting and have supported my work as it continues to develop and gain recognition.
Yes, I am actively involved in creating and organising my own professional opportunities. Most recently, I initiated and curated my solo exhibition After Hours at The Bridewell Studios and Gallery in Liverpool. This self-directed project involved developing a new body of work, securing the venue, managing all aspects of exhibition planning, and coordinating its promotion.
The show represents a significant step in consolidating recent developments in my painting practice. It explores light, stillness, and the fragile presence of everyday things, and is the result of a sustained period of reflection and redefinition in my work. I also took the lead in audience engagement, securing promotion for the exhibition through Paint Britain on their Instagram platform and website, which has a growing following of collectors and artists with a strong interest in contemporary British painting.
After Hours coincides with the Liverpool Biennial and runs alongside exhibitions by Time-Based Media and Fine Art students from Liverpool Hope University, some of whom will attend with their tutor. By aligning with these events, the show becomes part of a wider creative conversation and supports informal community engagement across education and artistic practice.
This independent model reflects my belief in building momentum through self-initiated exhibitions, while remaining open to wider public and institutional dialogue
Yes, my work has been featured on a number of online curated platforms. Most notably, I was selected as “Painting of the Day” by Contemporary British Painting via their Instagram account Paint Britain. This platform is well regarded for promoting emerging and established painters in the UK and is run by artists within the Contemporary British Painting organisation. My work was highlighted for its distinctive approach, and the same account later featured my solo exhibition After Hours, helping to broaden its reach to collectors, curators, and peers in the field.
I was also interviewed and featured by @Artist_Parent, a curated Instagram archive and project founded by artist Colette Lilley. The account shares the work and stories of artists who are also caregivers, offering visibility and community support. Through this platform, I was able to reflect on my practice and how it intersects with the realities of parenting, reaching an audience of engaged artist peers.
Both platforms are artist-led, curated, and respected in their fields, offering meaningful exposure and connection within the UK contemporary painting community
Yes, I was awarded the Richard Ford Travel Award in 2007, a recognised and competitive artist residency that supports UK artist in undertaking independent study at the Prado Museum in Madrid. The award enabled me to spend an extended period closely studying the collection, with daily access to the museum.
The experience had a lasting impact on my practice. I spent my time sketching, writing, and observing works by painters such as Velázquez, Goya, and Zurbarán. Being immersed in these historical works sharpened my sensitivity to tone, stillness, and the emotional power of economy in painting. It reinforced my interest in using pared-back means to evoke atmosphere, ambiguity, and fragile presence, qualities that continue to underpin my practice today.
Following the residency, I took part in a group presentation alongside other award recipients, where we shared reflections on our time in Madrid and how it had informed our work. The opportunity gave me both artistic nourishment and professional confidence at a formative stage of my career.
The Richard Ford Award remains one of the most significant early opportunities in my development as an artist.
Email: carolinegorick@gmail.com
Address: 88 Victoria Road, Aigburth, Liverpool, Merseyside, L17 6DJ, GB
Local Authority: Liverpool City Council
