Jessica Duff’s work explores the reconstruction of childhood memories through paint, whilst examining the tension between nostalgia and adult reality. Through a combination of painted self-portraiture alongside symbolic floral imagery, her work creates emotionally driven visual narratives based on personal experiences and memories. Using her own childhood photographs as source material, Duff reinterprets moments from the past through colour, composition, and materiality rather than direct realism.

The work highlights the contrast between the innocence and whimsy often associated with childhood and the emotional complexities that can emerge in adulthood- including feelings of low self-worth and an overactive, anxious mind. Her use of bright, exaggerated colours and decorative imagery of flowers references the carefree and emotional intensity of childhood memories. At the same time, the darker and decaying elements disrupt this sense of comfort and nostalgia. This contrast reflects how memory can become emotionally distorted over time and shaped through present experiences rather than remaining fixed or factual. Through reconstructing these memories in paint, Duff aims to show that feelings of childhood comfort and nostalgia can still exist within adulthood despite emotional struggles and anxieties.