12th September – 26th September 2025
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Ephemeral Chroma brings together the works of Sophie Elsden, Desiree Skellern, Sophie Baskerville, and Roozbeh Rajaie, four artists whose practices foreground colour as both a deeply personal expression and a shared, affective force. Originating from Liverpool, a city with a cultural richness comparable to Glasgow, the artists studied Fine Art and Design at Liverpool Hope University, and now diverge across abstraction, landscape, and experimental approaches. Binding their practices together is a shared fascination with chroma as something unstable, relational, and profoundly human.
Sophie Elsden’s vibrant abstractions capture the energy of conversations and city life, functioning as self-portraits of feeling. Desiree Skellern transforms landscapes into meditative spaces that process cultural displacement, neurodivergence, and the pressures of the individualistic nature of contemporary life. Sophie Baskerville disrupts pictorial conventions through collage-like methods, exploring binaries and deviance through unruly colour. Roozbeh Rajaie draws upon religion and British Persian identity to explore memory and emotion through chroma’s material presence.
Across their work, colour becomes more than an element of art; it is a connective tissue between practices, a visual language for states of mind too fleeting or fragile for words. Ephemeral Chroma invites viewers to encounter colour not as permanence but as an event: transient, unstable, and insistently alive.
While studying Fine Art at Liverpool Hope University, Sophie Elsden developed a passion for creating abstract, expressive paintings, exploring a range of materials and surfaces. Sophie’s inspiration comes from the motions of everyday life, and her attention to colour stems from memory and the spontaneity of thoughts and emotions. Sophie predominantly paints in acrylic but has recently found herself working with mixed media, using ink, oils, and metal leaf to add another tactile element to her paintings. Sophie works in Cass Art Liverpool, facilitating workshops for children and adults, giving them the freedom and opportunity to be creative and learn new skills.
See more of Sophie’s work on Instagram.
“There is a thrill that happens for me when I have a large space to work on. My arms form a performance which in some respects becomes part of the artwork.” – Sophie Elsden
Desiree Skellern is a multidisciplinary artist exploring cultural displacement, identity, and the shifting space between belonging and estrangement. Her landscapes emerge as imaginative collages of reference and memory; serene yet expressive terrains shaped by a chromatic interplay of order and chaos. Layering is not only a technique for Desiree but a way of reconciling fragments of thought, emotion, and experience. Her work often embodies fugitive states of mind that arise and dissolve in the act of creation. Though deeply personal, these works are not only about Desiree – she hopes they invite viewers to encounter colour as a living, transient force at once meditative and unstable, intimate, and universal.
See more of Desiree’s work on Instagram, or on her website.
“My art is not didactic but rather an open invitation for viewers to interpret and find personal meaning within my work.” – Desiree Skellern
Born in Coventry and now based in Liverpool, Sophie Baskerville is a contemporary painter whose practice explores the tangible physicality of painting as an object, while also engaging with deeper sociological concepts. Through the use of familiar imagery placed in unfamiliar contexts, her work creates spaces for questioning and reimagining collective and personal narratives. After moving to Liverpool in 2019, she studied Fine Art at Liverpool Hope University, graduating in 2021 with First Class Honours. During her final year, she was awarded the Freelands Foundation Painting Prize, which enabled her to exhibit work in London. Since then, she has held a studio with Arena Studios in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle, contributing to the city’s vibrant cultural scene while exhibiting in collaborative curatorial projects and group shows across Liverpool and Coventry. In addition to her studio practice, Sophie completed a PGCE in Art and Design in 2023 and currently teaches secondary and A Level Art and Photography. Balancing education and practice, she continues to develop a distinctive body of work that reflects both material experimentation and sociological inquiry.
See more of Sophie’s work on Instagram.
“For me, being an artist is not just about solitary practice but also about nurturing relationships with people who understand and make sense of that creative part of your brain.” – Sophie Baskerville
Roozbeh Rajaie’s sculpture embodies the interplay between hardship and transformation. The weight of life’s burdens is represented by heavy black clay, a symbol of struggle and resilience. Partially glazed white sections illustrate the transition from darkness to clarity, signifying growth and renewal. The pure white porcelain serves as a beacon of peace, enlightenment, and spiritual fulfilment, while the flowing cobalt blue represents the depth of hope, a quiet yet powerful force that sustains us in our most difficult moments. The central porcelain is inspired by Persian and Eastern architectural traditions, particularly the arches and windows of mosques and churches, but the piece also reflects influences from Western modern design. It connects historical and spiritual symbolism with contemporary expression by weaving together these artistic and cultural elements. Through its deliberate composition and thoughtful material choices, Roozbeh’s work conveys themes of resilience, faith, and the triumph of light over darkness. It stands as a powerful reminder that even in our most challenging times, hope and faith endure, guiding us toward victory over mental and emotional struggles.
“Life is a profound journey shaped by the search for meaning, purpose, and inner peace. From the moment we enter the world, we encounter adversity, uncertainty, and deep struggles. Yet, within these challenges lies the strength to endure, the faith to trust, and the hope that propels us toward healing and renewal.” – Roozbeh Rajaie
Ephemeral Chroma runs at Six Foot Gallery from 12th – 26th September 2025.