VIDEO: Sophie Ploeg talks about her Harley Gallery exhibition

The Harley Gallery, on the Welbeck estate in north Nottinghamshire, has invited award-winning artist Sophie Ploeg to make a new series of works, which has been inspired by the portraits currently on show in The Portland Collection gallery at Welbeck.

For Identity and Dress, running until January 8, Ploeg has clothed her contemporary sitters in historically inspired costumes to create highly detailed, luscious portraits.

She explains: “I like to use painted fabrics to point you to the past - our past - and show you a bit of the beauty of our history. Historical fashion and fabrics are tools to dive into a fantasy world with some very strong links to current modern taste and historical facts. I can pick and choose from the past and try to create images that are beautiful, a touch mysterious, recognisable or even contemporary.”

See www.harleygallery.co.uk/exhibition/identityanddress for more.

Sophie Ploeg was the winner of the 2013 BP Portrait Travel Award. With the award she created a series of new paintings, which will be shown in addition to her new work for The Harley Gallery. See www.sophieploeg.com

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