Veronica Rowlands is a socially engaged visual artist based in East London, working predominantly with acrylics, ink, stitch, and digitally. She studied Surface Pattern Design at the University of Wales and Illustration at the Kingston University. In 2021, Veronica worked with a clinical psychologist and abuse victims to create a series of artworks and quilted blankets which are currently housed at the Nightingale Psychiatric Hospital.

When I Let Her Out to Play

This month, I’m hosting Veronica’s solo show When I Let Her Out to Play at the Tavistock Centre in London. The paintings portray whimsical characters, incorporating tactile elements such as Hama beads, sequins and fur. Big, bright and colourful, they have a deliberate child-like quality to them. Through this collection, Veronica explores the themes of nostalgia and inner child healing.

Among the 11 artworks, there’s an elephant mum in a field of sow thistles, holding her baby in the trunk and crying tears of joy. Immediately my favourite. Imaginary Friend pictures an orange rabbit among flowers holding a little person up to its mouth, as if to kiss her (hopefully not eat her!). Playbox is a cheerful chaos of human and animal characters arranged around a rainbow. Elsewhere, an elegantly dressed white lady bear is surrounded by friendly spirits.

Two big, colourful paintings on canvas hanging on a wall

There’s something endearing about Veronica’s paintings. I like how they put a smile on your face as you walk through the artspace. It’s the perfect exhibition to welcome the spring with (which came surprisingly early this year!).

Interview

The subject matter of your works is very striking. What is it about the theme of inner child that it resonates with you so much?

I got a council funding a few years ago to do a project on narcissistic abuse. That was a very serious, dark topic, whereas my work has always been very intuitive, happy and free. I started to do a lot of research about the inner child healing, and read how commonplace it is for therapists to tell clients to engage in something they would have done as a child. For example, making a daisy chain or colouring in a picture, to appease their inner child. So, this is me appeasing my inner child and then sharing it. I’m going down the route of looking at how it can be used for healing.

Woman in front of two big, colourful paintings hanging on a wall

We lose the inner child as we transition into adulthood. Do you think that we should preserve our inner child as we grow older?

Yes, absolutely! Really, really… It’s so important to keep that little person alive inside, to look after and nurture it.

To be in touch with your sense of fun and get comfort from engaging with that inner child when you’re not feeling great is phenomenal.

Please tell me about your creative process and how you execute your paintings. Do you plan a lot or just go with the flow?

It’s very spontaneous. It’s not something that I have to research and understand what I want to convey, like the narcissism project. This is very personal and intuitive.

When I did that huge rabbit with the little person, I’d had the idea in my head for several weeks. I take sketchbooks everywhere and draw. All of these things come back out. But when I actually sit down to creating the artwork, it’s very fluid and spontaneous. Even when I have an idea of how it’s gonna look, it can turn out different by then end. It’s happening as I do it. It’s changing, evolving, developing.

Six big, colourful paintings on canvas arranged on a wall in a gallery space

What would you like the viewers to see when they look at your paintings?

I’d like them to feel happy and smile. I’m interested in transitional objects, memory objects, and everyone is going to need different things to bring that out and please their inner child. But if the colours, the vibrancy of these works can take people back to that place and make them use their imagination, I would be very happy.

What are your artistic plans for the rest of the year?

I’m looking towards international representation so that I can get my work shown abroad, on a larger scale. I am really focused on the term of inner-child healing and looking further into this notion. How it can be brought out of people on a more universal level.

When I Let Her Out to Play by Veronica Rowlands runs until 14th April 2025 at the Tavistock Centre, 120 Belsize Lane, London NW3 5BA. Visit Veronica’s website.

Man standing in front of big, colourful paintings hanging on a wall