Zoe Savory is an artist and writer based in Chester. Her paintings begin from direct observation, often outdoors or in the presence of a sitter. Her canvases weave suggestions of narrative into transcribed scenes to explore ideas around home and how we imagine ourselves. Interested in how art helps us to see, her choice of composition is guided by colour, form and atmosphere.
Born in Salford in 1989, Zoe found her way into art through evening life drawing sessions while studying philosophy and politics at the University of Oxford. Drawing regularly from life remains an essential part of her practice, enabling an instinctive feel for the human form which guides her hand as she encounters the figures that inhabit her paintings.
Zoe developed her practice independently before gaining a full scholarship to study at the Royal Drawing School in 2019. Her work is held in the Royal Collection, as well as in private collections in the UK and Europe. Her work has been exhibited at Christie’s London, in the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition and at Salford Museum and Art Gallery. In 2024 she established Chester Portrait Club to bring together artists to draw one another from observation. Recent exhibitions include the Assembly House Summer Open in Norwich and a solo show in Chester.