Joe Cheetham’s practice explores the nuances of contemporary human emotion through figurative painting, from his early spray-painted cartoons, exhibited as expanded installations and recently in oil painting. After rejecting oil painting during his MFA, he completed a residency at PLOP on Hackney Road, which led to a shift in his focus and his medium.  From the distilled highs of club culture and the playful, symbolic nature of cartoons, his recent projects investigate more ambiguous emotions in oil paint. His latest projects explore figurative painting as vessels for varied emotions, with over-exaggerated eyes, seeking connection through the contemporary gaze.