Gillian Duffy’s emotionally charged work ranges from the comic to the forlorn. Her work, though mainly sculptural, has an element of the theatrical, which leaves the spectator wondering if they have not been privy to some earlier event or happening that would allow for a more comprehensive reading of the work.

The work stems from Duffy's own emotional discharge, responding to situations around her. Her work is multi-layered and while the titles often reference popular culture or current social issues, there is an underlying tone that is deeper and darker than what initially appears on the surface.

Duffy describes her works as having their own 'personalities', suggesting that the life they take on once they are put out there into the world, is something she has no, and wants no control over.

Although her practice is routed in the tradition of making her work often seems very off the cuff. Duffy maintains that even the most thrown together work has been heavily considered and work that comes together quickly normally follows as a reaction to a piece that has been physically laboured over for an extended period.

Duffy admits that works that are truly arduous often lose sight of themselves in the endurance process, which in its self becomes the artwork rather than the final object. When asked if these works then become performances rather than artworks, she reveals she is too 'self conscious' for performance, however the challenge of overcoming this 'self consciousness' appeals to her.

Gillian Duffy graduated from Camberwell College of Arts in 2007 and now works from her studio in Deptford, Southeast London.