Lush Foliage Permeates Xanthe Burdett’s Delicate Portraiture
For Xanthe Burdett, the boundary between humans and nature is thin, malleable, and always in flux. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Lush Foliage Permeates Xanthe Burdett’s Delicate Portraiture appeared first on Colossal .
Xanthe Burdett, a Devon-born, London-based artist, explores the blurred line between humans and nature in her delicate portraiture. The British Isles-based painter predominantly uses a green-dominated palette, layering foliage and vines atop subtle human silhouettes. Her work draws from mythology and ancient cosmologies, portraying an interconnectedness between people and plants, as though they are intrinsically one.
Burdett begins with a sketch, employing the Renaissance-era cartoon method to transfer her drawings to canvas. This entails layering a substance like charcoal between the preparatory composition and the substrate, and tracing the initial linework. Upon completion of the sketch, the artist introduces various greenery until she achieves a lush density.
One of her works, "They came upon a clearing" (2026), portrays a clearing with an oil on linen canvas measuring 70 x 100 centimeters. Burdett considers superimposition a means to "reimagine the body as a site of ecological and mythic transformation." In an era marked by environmental disasters, such as wildfires, biodiversity loss, and climate anxiety, her work serves as both a sanctuary and a platform for imagining alternative relationships with the more-than-human world.
Burdett's figures embody growth and regeneration, often depicted as "flesh giving way to nettles, brambles, and tender green shoots." Additionally, many of her works incorporate mythological deities, such as Venus, the Roman goddess of beauty and fertility, and Janus, the god of transitions and beginnings. This fall, she will be staying at Soho Revue, working on a series that delves into the Greek myth of Daphne, who transformed into a laurel tree, as a way to conceptualize transformation within climate catastrophe. Follow her progress on Instagram.
Upcoming works include "Janus" (2026), an oil on linen piece measuring 30 x 25 centimeters, and "Vegetable Venus" (2026), an oil on linen artwork spanning 80 x 160 centimeters. "Viriditas," an oil on Khadi handmade rag paper, measuring 30 x 21.5 centimeters, and "Death of a Muse" (2025), an oil on linen piece measuring 24 x 60 inches, also feature in her portfolio. "The conversation" (2026), an oil and metal leaf on board piece, measures 17.8 x 12.7 centimeters.
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