About

Mara Larkin is a figurative painter and portraitist based in London. Her practice explores the everyday complexity of experiencing the world through a chronically ill body.

Chronic illness disproportionately affects women, is often misdiagnosed, and is poorly understood. Larkin’s painting aims to critique the medical industrial complex and raise awareness about chronic conditions. In 2023, Larkin studied and wrote her dissertation on the relationship between government support in health care and stigmatisation at the University of Glasgow. In 2025, she completed a graduate diploma in art at Goldsmiths University where she merged her research with her fine art painting practice. Larkin's paintings are figurative and revolve around pain, memory and the human body. She uses intricate brushwork and colour on stretched canvas and scrim.