About

Perdita Sinclair’s work is a blend of the old, the new, the borrowed, and the blue, intertwining deep time and evolution with current affairs, scientific research, and folklore. The ocean serves as a space where these ideas converge, taking on a new life.

She is drawn to stories that feel instinctively true while retaining an air of mystery. The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis, for example, suggests that human ancestors evolved from a semi-aquatic lifestyle. Whether or not it is scientifically accepted, it reflects our desire to understand who we are and where we come from. She finds it fascinating that humans are part of the natural world, yet we often feel increasingly detached from it, creating an uncanny valley in our surroundings.

This tension also appears in AI-generated images and in the way it creates versions of endangered animals. These impostors place a digital veil over a physical world already under threat, blurring the lines between truth, fiction, and belief. In conceiving her work, she uses this technology alongside her other research and lived experiences, and welcomes the diverse emotional, intellectual, and visceral experiences that this combination sets in motion.

Alongside Sinclair’s art practice, she works as a person-centred counsellor, which deepens her interest in the relationship between our inner and outer worlds. Living with dyslexia and ADHD has reinforced her belief that reality is never singular but made up of overlapping perspectives. Her practice brings these fragments together, allowing unexpected connections to emerge.

Gaining first-hand experience is important in her practice, and this intrepidity has led her to collaborate with Functional Anatomy, resulting in her appointment as an artist-in-residence for human dissection courses at both Oxford University and Imperial College. She has also conducted two painting residencies with ESKFF at Mana Contemporary in the USA and worked alongside scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, to create a large light installation that spanned the length of the Millennium Seed Bank atrium. She has exhibited extensively in the UK and internationally, including recently at Mana Contemporary in the USA and the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

For current exhibitions and events, check out Instagram @perditasinclair

CV on request