Leslie Glenn Damhus RWA

The paintings of Leslie Glenn Damhus are steeped in mythology, fairytales and the symbolism of religious iconography. She combines the historical and the contemporary, weaving modern-day cultural reference through Quattrocento imagery.

Her paintings are filled with contrasting ideas and the viewer is often confronted by the gaze of the strange and often mischievous animals. Damhus invites the audience to make a connection with the animal, possibly challenging views on beauty and ugliness, sacred and the profane, the serious with the playful, the significant with the trivial and pouring over each painting, her well-tuned sense of humour adds a mischievous twist to her love of Renaissance imagery.

Leslie Glenn Damhus graduated from the University of the West of England, Bristol with an Honours Degree in Fine Arts. She exhibits regularly throughout the South West and was elected an RWA Academician in 2018. In the same year she was the winner of The Evolver Award at The RWA Annual Open and the 2014 winner of the Bath Society of Artists Portrait award. She has lived in the US, Denmark and Australia and currently lives and works in Frome, Somerset.

In 2024 Leslie curated ‘Fauna’ at the RWA, an exhibition which explored the symbolism of animals in art, bringing together paintings and sculptures by RWA Academicians; Angela Lizon, Beth Carter and Dorcas Casey alongside her own work.

The Mediator is based on the myth of the Great Goddess, alongside the 17th-century fable The Monkey and the Cat.

In the painting, the Goddess wears a classical Renaissance blue mantle, in keeping with the traditional dress of the Madonna, and her haloed headdress is akin to that of the Goddess Isis. She stands behind the two quarrelling animals, looking not at them but into the void beyond. She has witnessed it all before and is exhausted by the scene.

Kitty, in a vulnerable position, is being bullied again by Monkey. Pulling her ears, he stands powerfully above her. The Goddess has one hand gently under Monkey's bottom. This action could be read as supportive—or possibly the opposite: her hand letting him know his behaviour is unacceptable.

Notes of Interest:

Artworks of the Goddess Isis with her child Horus at her breast became the model for the Christian imagery of the Madonna and Child. As a result, both have acquired similar mythology. Regarded as protectors and mediators for the vulnerable—apostles for compassion—they're often seen as sources of hope and refuge, offering solace and guidance in troubled times.

In the fable of The Monkey and the Cat, Monkey persuades Kitty to retrieve chestnuts from the embers of the fire. He convinces her that, with her dexterous paws, she would retrieve the chestnuts much better than he could, and that they would then share in a delicious feast. However, she is betrayed by Monkey, who gobbles up each chestnut she secures, while she burns her paw in the process.

This fable has been used numerous times in political satire, especially when exposing manipulation, betrayal, and the sacrifice of others for personal gain.