Harriet Whitby

Harriet Whitby (b. 1997) is a Cornwall-based artist whose work explores relationships between light, people, and place. She moved to Falmouth to study BA (Hons) Fine Art at Falmouth University, graduating in 2022. Cornwall has since become central to her life and practice, shaping the environments she observes and returns to in her work.

Her paintings focus on everyday interactions between people and their surroundings, often depicting cropped or fragmented views rather than complete scenes. By isolating small moments and unusual angles, she draws attention to details that might otherwise go unnoticed; reflections on water, gestures, shifting light, and the edges of lived spaces.

Whitby works from observation and collected imagery, developing compositions that feel intimate and immediate. Her practice is rooted in lived experience, with recent works reflecting time spent on and around the water, where daily routines and natural rhythms become subjects in their own right.