Jodie Underwood (they/he/she), is a British artist who explores the intersection of eroticism, gender and queerness in a combination of digital illustration and oil painting. They are a third-year painting student at the University of Brighton and their work merges traditional oil painting techniques and contemporary queer themes to create maximalist and surreal works that the queer and trans community can relate to. Inspired by artists such as Nicole Eisenman, Jodie's art captures the trans experience through humourous yet serious imagery. He has exhibited in places such as the Young Artist's Show at the Royal Academy, and more recently at a kink club during Manchester Pride. She invites viewers to contemplate their internal biases and stereotypes by combining historical imagery with the beauty of queer bodies.

"My artistic practice serves as a commentary on the queer experience, exploring it through a lens that is both humorous and erotic. My identity intertwines with my work and more recently I have been making work about my own experiences with androgyny and the expectations I have to be androgynous as a non-binary person. While the overarching theme revolves around queer and trans experiences, eroticism also plays a prominent role, often capturing viewers’ attention first. Erotic art has been wildly misunderstood for centuries, similar to queer identities and this overlap of ignorance towards these topics is a big source of inspiration for me. I use humour to render these erotic themes more approachable for the audience and I also simply like for people to enjoy my work and be able to laugh over it. Nicole Eisenman stands out as a big influence in my work. While our themes align, what captivates me most about Eisenman's work is the materiality, particularly in her paintings. Embracing a mix of textures and styles within a single piece, her pieces often convey the impression of being painted by multiple artists. Inspired by this, I incorporate a blend of realistic oil painting and flat acrylic colour in my work. There are two distinct sides to my work, my painting and my digital illustrations. In my paintings, I like to use a mixture of acrylic and oil to create the aforementioned combination of styles. I predominantly work on canvas, occasionally experimenting with smaller pieces on board. Currently, I’m exploring the dimensions of my pieces, leaning towards larger canvases that can enhance the impact of my art. I’m also exploring the ‘kitsch’ art movement and aesthetics and mixing maximalist themes into my work. In my digital illustrations, I make very graphic pieces with large flat areas of bright colour. Planning is a huge part of my work. My paintings are all meticulously planned out digitally in advance as I like to have a good idea of what my work will look like when finished before I start prepping my canvas. This planning stage not only dictates colour palettes and compositions but also establishes the overall mood of the piece. I use a lot of photo references to create my pieces, many of which come from pornography or images I’ve taken of myself. My ultimate aim is for my work to resonate deeply with the queer community, and I want trans people to be able to see themselves in my paintings. Inclusivity is also incredibly important to me, this is reflected in the diversity of bodies and skin tones portrayed in my art as I want everybody to feel seen in my work. While my primary aim is to impact those directly connected to the messages in my work, I also hope that others, regardless of their personal experiences, can find enjoyment in the erotic and humorous aspects of my creations as well."