The Melancholic Cycle of Time and Nature: Clare Woods and “Garden Without Seasons” at Pitzhanger Manor

During the pandemic, while stuck behind windows and looking at the world from behind a glass prism, did you realize how deep the meanings carried by an ordinary houseplant we watered every day or the fading flowers on the table could be? Clare Woods, one of the most powerful figures of contemporary art in the United Kingdom, confronts us with the melancholic alchemy of nature, the passage of time, and death through her new exhibition, Garden Without Seasons, set to open at London’s Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery. On the no-26 art radar this week is the story of brushes that slow down speed.

Garden Without Seasons brings together 29 new and recent works produced by Clare Woods over the last four years. The artist’s signature wet-look oil painting technique forms living, coiling organic shapes over the flora and still lifes in the exhibition. Standing against the dizzying bombardment of images created by modern photography, these paintings force the viewer to stop, slow down, and look at the scenes in much greater detail. Having completed her initial training as a sculptor, Woods focuses not only on the forms of objects but also on the spaces left between them.

The World Behind Glass and the Fine Line Between Life and Death

Many works in the exhibition focus on that collective claustrophobia of the pandemic era—namely, the act of looking at the world through windows. The bold reds in the painting Cold Case (2025), and the dirty yellows and greens seeping through the grated windows of an abandoned building in the work titled Show All (2025), create multicolored prisms proving that our perspective is not single-dimensional.

One of the exhibition’s monumental masterpieces, Under The Dome (2024), frames the rare and endangered plants under protection inside the Temperate House—the Victorian-era greenhouse at Kew Gardens—from a bottom-to-top perspective:

The massive Victorian glass ceiling surrounding the tropical plants actually represents that extremely thin and fragile line between life and death. Without that glass protection, the cold climate of the United Kingdom could annihilate these rare species within seconds.

Wet-on-Wet: A Single-Session Painting Marathon

Clare Woods’ production methodology requires a complete physical performance and dedication. The artist first transforms a photograph chosen from her vast studio archive into a line drawing; she then transfers this onto aluminum panels primed with white gesso. When she transitions to the painting stage, she works on a completely flat surface using the wet-on-wet technique. Mixing colors directly on the aluminum panel, she finishes the painting in a single long and continuous session before the paint dries.

At the end of the day, she applies all the remaining excess paint left on her brush onto pieces of paper. These papers subsequently turn into intricate collages (e.g., Collage for The Farewells, 2026) that pass through millimeter-precise cutting and drawing processes, which will later enter colored frames chosen by the artist herself.

Art Historical and Literary Roots: From Morandi to George Orwell

Woods’ works harbor a very rich tradition of art history and literature behind them:

• Classical Echoes: The vases containing the flowers recall the vessels of Giorgio Morandi, while the melancholic tones in the still lifes nod to the peonies drawn by Édouard Manet while on his deathbed, and to the memento mori (remember death) tradition in 17th-century Dutch paintings.
• George Orwell and the 7 Rose Bushes: One of the artist’s greatest sources of inspiration is George Orwell’s column pieces titled “As I Please,” written during the Second World War. Orwell mentions 7 rose bushes he planted in his own garden while Europe was a flaming battlefield. In her painting Woolworth’s Roses (2023), Woods depicts those roses of Orwell inside a vase within a closed room, as their petals wither and drop. Just like Orwell’s garden, this flower arrangement transforms into a focal point of resistance illuminating the dark interior.

Ghosts in Sir John Soane’s House

It is no coincidence that the exhibition takes place in the historic Pitzhanger Manor building, designed by Sir John Soane (1753–1837) in the early 1800s. Soane’s unique architecture, filled with plays of light, makes his invisible presence felt in every corner, even though he passed away from this world long ago. Works by Woods like Nothing Permanent—inspired by the ephemerality of flowers and the destined-to-wilt get-well flowers sent to her upon her discharge from the hospital—establish a wonderful visionary partnership with the melancholic spirit of this historic manor.

Important Notes and Event Agenda for Visitors

If you are going to be in London this summer or autumn, the dates you need to log directly into your calendar as part of the exhibition are as follows:

• Exhibition: Clare Woods: Garden Without Seasons
• Artist: Clare Woods
• Venue: Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery (Mattock Ln, Ealing, London W5 5EQ)
• Dates: July 29 – November 8, 2026
• Thursday, September 3, 2026: Special exhibition tour accompanied by the curator.
• Thursday, October 1, 2026: A live artist talk taking place between Clare Woods and Rebecca Lyons.