Henny Acloque’s practice spans painting and drawing, generating a distinct energy and spontaneity that fuels an ever-evolving body of work. Her art reflects a convergence of visual languages and cultural references—from the fantastical microcosms of Hieronymus Bosch to the mystical traditions of Spain and the sensory immersion of natural soundscapes and landscapes.
Acloque’s process is deeply intuitive, grounded in experimentation and chance. She often begins by pouring paint directly onto her surfaces—canvas, linen, or otherwise—inviting the medium to move freely and create its own forms. This automatic, almost meditative approach recalls the subconscious gestures of surrealist drawing, allowing disparate elements to merge into unexpected, alchemical compositions. Her recent works explore the interplay between figuration and abstraction. Fragmented bodies and mischievous creatures emerge within stripped-back, chromatic environments, where desire, memory, and longing animate her surreal terrains. These dreamlike spaces collapse past, present, and imagined futures, blurring the line between reality and fiction—where humour and unease exist in delicate balance.
While landscape has long played a central role in Acloque’s imagery, it now appears more abstracted—less a depiction of place than a stage for psychological and symbolic narratives. Monochrome backgrounds and rhythmic patterns introduce emotional tension, intensified by spatial ambiguity. Her scenes seem suspended in a liminal zone—neither here nor there—echoing the disorientation of sleep paralysis, where perception hovers between waking and dream states. Closer viewing reveals a constellation of recurring motifs—hands, limbs, flora and fauna, hybrid beings—that float through unstable environments, resisting fixed orientation or focal point. Her work evades categorisation, favouring fluidity over hierarchy and embracing complexity over coherence.
In essence, Acloque invites us to reconsider how we perceive and interpret the world around us. Her paintings uncover the uncanny, magical dimensions of the spaces we overlook—offering not just what is seen, but what might be sensed or dreamed.
Bio
Henny Acloque, (b.1979) lives and works in Oxford, UK, and is a graduate of Royal College of Art, London. Her work has been the subject of numerous exhibitions internationally including, Benjamin Parsons / Hannah Payne Oxford, UK (solo, 2023); Oceans Apart, Manchester, UK (group, 2023), Gallery L21, Arco, Madrid, Spain (group, 2023); Goose Summer, curated by Martyn Cross (group, 2022) (online exhibition); Where we Are, curated by Danny Rolph, Mercers Hall, (group, 2020); Galerie Ebensperger, Saltzberg, Austria (solo, 2019); Courtauld Institute of Arts, London, UK (group, 2018); Tristian Lorenz Galerie, Frankfurt, Germany (solo, 2016); Life After Magic, Ceri Hand Gallery (solo, 2026). Acloque has been awarded the Exeter Phoenix contemporary Prize and been shortlisted for the John Moores Painting Prize and Jerwood Drawing Prize. She was an artist in residence at Colab Residency in June 2025.
