Phil Sayers

Studied Fine Art at Manchester College of Art and Design with postgraduate study at Leeds College of Art and Leeds University.

Has taught or been affiliated to many universities in the UK, particularly Staffordshire University, and is currently External Examiner in Fine Art at the University of Derby.

Originally a printmaker, the adoption of a feminine persona and the transition to photographic masquerade occurred over a decade ago to fulfill personal as well as artistic needs.

Much of the work critiques and subverts representations of women found in traditional painting and sculpture. Many recent works are based on 18th & 19th century paintings, usually by male artists, in which the women represented are invariably young, attractive and often eroticised. Enshrined within historical collections or major exhibitions, such paintings have acquired status as icons of high culture. By performing the female subjects Phil Sayers disrupts this and brings new interpretations to the originals.