Two bathers bask in the light of two nippled, crescent moons in this strange, sensual painting by the London-based artist Amy Steel. “Colour works on our senses and emotions, and for me it is tactile,” the painter told Rosalind Duguid of her fondness for working predominantly in “peaceful” blues or “intense” pinks and oranges. Her frequent depiction of breasts and bunnies, meanwhile, is a means of visualising female eroticism. “When I am making the paintings, the swirling breast shaped mounds, protruding nipples and soft rabbit fur feel close to me as though they brush softly against my skin… I hope that the viewer can experience some of this tactile language and that [it offers] an alternative to the male gaze.”
