Constructed from layers of vinyl, canvas and acrylic, She Was Not There (2023) is a recent wall-based work by Jann Haworth. At its centre is the torso of a female figure, recalling the stylised and idealised representation of women’s bodies in advertising and popular culture. Shapes and blocks of colour are layered across the surface, allowing the viewer to look through the work and revealing the image as something deliberately constructed and reassembled.

The double frame heightens this sense of looking through and draws attention to the artwork as a constructed object rather than a conventional picture. In doing so, Haworth revisits her longstanding engagement with advertising and the representation of women in popular culture. Despite placing a female figure at the centre of the work, the title She Was Not There perhaps suggests an absence, commenting on the widespread commercial use of women’s bodies and images while questioning their agency within that culture.