ARTIST BIO

Isabel Rock is a creator of contemporary fairy tales. Her work is an explosion of strange occurrences while a surreal narrative takes the audience on a journey into the imagination.

Taking inspiration from Japanese woodblock prints and Indian miniature painting Rock has developed a unique collage technique that combines bold structures with large-scale woodblock prints and intricate detailing. The subject is a grand mixture of humour, drama, hidden morals, fanciful characters, modern culture, mythical beings and fantastical situations.

Rock creates a world that pulls you in and demands your attention. Quality of line is paramount, the drawings are created using a dipping pen and acrylic ink or a squirrels hair brush found on her travels which can only be bought in India.

Born in Hammersmith, London in 1981, Rock’s destiny was to be an artist. Studying Fine Art Printmaking at The University of Brighton and graduating with First Class Honours in 2004 she went on to do a Masters Degree at The Royal College of Art in London, continuing her studies in printmaking and drawing, graduating in 2008.

Her first solo show at Bearspace Gallery in Deptford, London in April 2009 sold out and was the beginning of a career that continues to rise. Rock participated in the first ever India Art Summit, now the India Art Fair, where her detailed and intricate work was met with great appreciation from collectors and public.

In 2009 Rock bought a port-a-cabin as a studio and parked it in a field in Berkshire with some rabbits for company. She has participated in international residencies in India, Iceland, Germany and West Africa as well as building up her portfolio and exhibiting at various galleries internationally.

 2013 saw Rock winning the Arts Foundation Printmaking Fellowship, a £10,000 award given to emerging artists in certain practices, only six are awarded each year. This funded a move to Berlin where she lived and worked for four years, inspired by the vibrant life that the city has to offer.

Moving back to the UK and the port-a-cabin in 2017, Rock continues to work on her large scale collages, restricted only by the height of the ceiling.

Increasingly concerned about the damage humans do to the natural world, feeling frustrated with the lack of societal change and angry at government incompetence, in 2021 Rock became involved with non-violent civil disobedience. Taking part in actions by Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain and Just stop Oil, she has been arrested around ten times and spent a month in Bronzefields prison after climbing up a gantry on the M25. While in prison she drew her surroundings and entered one of these into the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize. This drawing, along with an exhibition proposal, won the prestigious Evelyn Williams Drawing Award and Rock has her first major solo show at Hastings Contemporary Gallery in September 2025 until March 15th 2026.

Rock is currently based in London with a studio in Brixton.