WIRRAL artist Clare Chinnery is set to showcase her work in London this October after being selected from thousands of entrants for the prestigious VAA Visual Art Open Exhibition 2026.

The Wirral-based artist has been shortlisted with her striking floral work, The Heart That Sheds the Brightest Light, which will be exhibited as part of the major event celebrating contemporary visual art. The selection marks an exciting milestone for Clare, whose distinctive work has already been exhibited extensively and can be found in private collections around the world.

Clare’s unmistakable style has been described as:- “floral punk art” and she combines traditional oil painting with spray paint to create bold, atmospheric works that offer a contemporary and unconventional take on floral imagery. Her unique abstract practice explores light, shape and form, taking inspiration from Dutch Vanitas still-life paintings while transforming their traditional themes through her own energetic, modern approach.

The result is work that feels simultaneously familiar and rebellious, with flowers emerging through layers of colour, texture and abstraction. On:- Thursday, 8 October 2026, she travels to the Visual Art Open to showcase The Heart That Sheds the Brightest Light at one of the UK’s most prestigious exhibitions in what is a huge achievement for the artist, having been hand-picked from thousands of artists who entered the competition.

Clare said:- “It’s an honour to be shortlisted for such a prestigious event and I still can’t believe it! The piece itself is inspired by the dark drama of 17th-century Dutch floral painting, the piece explores the tension between darkness and light, beauty and impermanence. Richly layered and expressive, the flowers emerge from the shadows with an intensity that feels mysterious yet evocative.”

She continues:- “The painting draws on the tradition of Vanitas and Memento Mori, where beautiful still-life paintings served as reminders of the fleeting nature of life. Flowers, despite their beauty, are temporary; they bloom, fade and eventually disappear. I’m interested in that contrast – the fragility and impermanence of life alongside its beauty and intensity. It is ultimately a celebration of colour, light and the fleeting moments of beauty that make life so precious.”

Clare lives and works in Wirral and studied Fine Art Painting at Liverpool John Moores University, where she developed her abstract style, initially concentrating predominantly on abstract landscapes. Her practice has continued to evolve since then, with flowers becoming an increasingly important subject within her work.

Clare’s paintings have subsequently travelled far beyond Merseyside. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is now held in collections in the UK, China, the USA and New Zealand. Closer to home, she has exhibited at numerous respected galleries and exhibitions, including the Williamson Art Gallery and The Atkinson, as well as Manchester Art Fair, The Discerning Eye Exhibition, Seventh Circle Gallery in Birmingham and Terrace Gallery in London.

Her selection for the Visual Art Open, however, represents one of the most significant moments of her career so far. Visitors to the Visual Art Open will have the chance to see Clare’s shortlisted piece, The Heart That Sheds the Brightest Light. The stunning floral work brings together many of the elements that have come to define Clare’s art — abstraction, flowers, dramatic contrasts and her unusual combination of oil and spray paint.

Being selected for the Visual Art Open places the Wirral artist among a highly competitive field of contemporary artists and gives her work a prominent platform in London. For an artist whose career and distinctive visual language were developed on Merseyside, it also represents another opportunity to take Wirral creativity to a much wider audience.

Clare Chinnery / Visual Art Open

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