At thirteen years old, Amanda Baldwin took her first painting class and made a copy of Frida Kahlo’s Still Life with Parrot and Fruit (1951). “There is something about that painting that has haunted me all these years”, she says. “I just think it’s marvellous”. When you look at Baldwin’s work, this early influence makes a lot of sense. Her still life and landscape paintings show familiar scenes but in a strange and enchanting way. Be it a forest, a sunset or a vase of flowers, the compositions always play with our perception of depth. They trick the eye with painted illusions that bring a sense of magic. But this magic is not so magical after all – it comes from years of honing the skills and techniques of painting with oil on canvas.