Abigail’s work in representational art is driven by a deep curiosity about visual phenomena and her responses to them. She is equally fascinated by symbolism—how we assign personalities to objects and construct stories around them. She explores how we filter and process reality, particularly through the imaginative play that is especially present in childhood.

Using traditional techniques and often working directly from life, Abigail seeks to capture the complexity of human perception and the way we interpret the world around us. She believes that, whether in mathematics or art, the most beautiful results come from reality, and that mastery of its fundamental principles is essential for breaking and reimagining them.
 

For Abigail, the worlds of math and art are closely aligned, both rooted in creativity and the pursuit of truth. In both fields, she sees the process of abstraction and simplification as a means of uncovering deeper truths within the human experience.
 

Her mathematical background shapes her approach to art: she values technical precision and combines it with intuition, analysis, and perseverance—much as she would approach any problem in mathematics.

Abigail Burton is a classically trained oil painter from London.

Born in 1997, Abigail grew up surrounded by her grandmother’s artwork and developed an early obsession with drawing. Her childhood was uniquely shaped by life aboard a houseboat on the Thames. This, combined with long coastal walks and time spent on the river after moving to East Sussex as a teenager, cultivated her appreciation for natural beauty.

Abigail was also drawn to the beauty mathematics. She pursued this academically, studying at the University of Oxford, where she completed a master’s degree in 2019 before embarking on a PhD at Imperial College London.Yet, over time, her love for painting began to eclipse her fascination with maths. In 2021, she made the decision to leave academia and devote herself fully to her artistic practice.

After studying classical realist art at the Barnes Atelier, Abigail now continues to develop her craft, creating a blend of meticulous studio works and expressive plein air pieces, including as a Hudson River fellow in 2024.

 Her art has been showcased in numerous prestigious exhibitions about the UK and internationally.

As of 2023, her work has been selected to exhibit with The Royal Society of Portrait Painters, The Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Discerning Eye, Society of Graphic Fine Art and The Society of Women Artists exhibitions at the Mall Galleries, and several times with The Chelsea Art Society, The Society of Scottish Artists, The Bath Society of Artists, The Gallery at Green and Stone, and in the Salmagundi Club in New York.