Saville does not meet the usual public perception of the YBAs as she has dedicated her career to traditional figurative oil painting. Her painterly style has been compared to that of Lucian Freud and Rubens (two of my favourite artists as it happens). Her paintings are usually much larger than life size, and many are self portraits. They are strongly pigmented and give a highly sensual impression of the surface of the skin as well as the mass of the body.
Given a choice, my ideal media would be oils and the focus would also be on traditional figurature. Perhaps this is why I love her work so much.
I have posted a few of her paintings - some are too graphic for here, but I recommend you check them out if you like what you see so far. She observed many hours of cosmetic surgery and clearly this forms a large part of her research.
Stunning.
