Oona Grimes is a London based artist renowned for her work in drawing, clay and film. She merges flattist collage, print and painting with sculptural objects, and filmed performances.
Her work reflects a deep obsession with language, exploring its beginnings and ends, and the nuances of learning and losing it.
Grimes' subjects are the abused, the disappeared, the bruised, patched and coloured in. These characters inhabit fuzzy felt drawings that blend Commedia dell’arte slapstick with comic strip aesthetics.
In 2025, she was elected as an Academician of the Royal Academy (London) — a distinguished honor that recognizes her as a leading figure in her field.
Being an Academician means she was formally chosen by existing members in acknowledgment of her outstanding contributions and professional excellence. It marks her as someone whose work has had significant impact and who is regarded as a respected authority among peers. This title is not simply an academic position. It is an honorary distinction that reflects a lifetime of high-level achievement and is one of the highest honors an artist or scholar can receive in that institution.
"Etruscan children #19 & #20” depict Etruscan children led into battle by Female Sumurai. The frenzy of war is drawn from Sumerian mythology and the Bayeux tapestry via Uccello & Piero, Tweedeldum & Tweedledee.