“At first glance, these sparkling paintings are gorgeous images of endangered animals. Upon closer inspection, however, each work shows a much darker subtext. The hauntingly expressed consequences of poaching, climate change and habitat loss powerfully focus on the plight of some of the world’s most vulnerable species.”— INSPIRED ECONOMIST
Claire Milner is a British contemporary artist whose richly layered paintings explore biodiversity, climate change and humanity’s complex relationship with the natural world. Over the course of the last decade environmental concerns have been central to her practice, with her work examining the beauty and fragility of threatened ecosystems and the consequences of human activity upon them. In 2025–26 she once again achieved Active Membership of the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC), marking her fourth consecutive year of recognition. She was among fewer than ten artists selected worldwide, awarded to members demonstrating the implementation of environmental sustainability best practice.
Drawing upon a lifelong connection with nature and extensive time spent in Africa, South America and Asia, Milner creates paintings that are both visually compelling and deeply researched. Her compositions bring together plants, animals and landscape in densely layered environments, where beauty and abundance coexist with underlying narratives of habitat loss, extinction and ecological change. Rather than depicting nature simply as something to be observed, her work considers the intricate relationships that sustain it and our own place within those systems.
Each painting is preceded by extensive research into the environmental issues that underpin it, from illegal logging and habitat destruction to climate change and species extinction. Milner also draws upon her own archive of photographs taken during field expeditions. Her technique combines this contemporary subject matter with methods rooted in the traditions of painting: works can require hundreds of hours to complete, and she hand-mixes oil paints using natural pigments, including iron oxides and ochres sourced from small family-owned quarries in France and Italy. The physical material of the paintings therefore maintains a tangible connection with the landscapes and ecosystems at the heart of her practice.
Milner began her professional career as an illustrator, receiving commissions to create portraits of prominent figures in business and politics. Her portraiture subsequently attracted international attention, most notably when Rihanna commissioned her to create a five-foot-square portrait of Marilyn Monroe. Comprising 65,000 hand-applied Swarovski crystals, the work presents the celebrated public image of Monroe while concealing a second, more intimate portrait of Norma Jeane Baker on its reverse. The commission received widespread international media coverage and was featured in a special edition of Vogue Paris guest-edited by Rihanna.
Despite the success of her portraiture, Milner increasingly felt compelled to bring her longstanding concern for wildlife and the environment into her art. This marked an important evolution in her practice. Her paintings began to combine their immediate visual richness with deeper narratives concerning climate change, habitat loss and extinction, allowing her artistic practice and commitment to conservation to become increasingly interconnected.
Since then, Milner has used her work not only to raise awareness of environmental issues but also to support conservation directly. Through exhibitions, collaborations and the sale of her paintings, she has raised substantial funds for organisations and initiatives including Explorers Against Extinction, the Environmental Investigation Agency, the Born Free Foundation, the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Save Wild Tigers, charity: water and CamFed.
“Claire’s work reminds us that art can do more than depict the beauty of the natural world—it can help protect it.”
— Dr Haley Mellin, Founder, Art into Acres
Her work has been exhibited widely in the UK and internationally. In 2021 The Alchemist, a painting from Milner’s Anima Mundi collection was selected for presentation to delegates in the Blue Zone at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26, in Glasgow, addressing themes of species extinction and habitat loss. Her work has also appeared in museum exhibitions and installations at venues including Ripon Cathedral; Norwich Cathedral and York Minster; Corinium Museum; Canal Museum; Pontefract Museum; and Museum in the Park, as well as exhibitions at the Oxo Tower Gallery; Royal Horticultural Halls; Mall Galleries, London; Harrods, Knightsbridge; The Atrium Gallery, Whiteley's; Hotel Cafe Royal, London; Savoy Hotel, London; The Amy Winehouse Foundation; and Platform in conjunction with London Fashion Week.
In 2026, Milner’s commitment to conservation entered a significant new chapter through a collaboration with American artist and land conservationist Dr Haley Mellin and the artist-founded nonprofit Art into Acres. Created in conjunction with her solo exhibition Gardeners of Eden at NoonPowell Fine Art, Milner’s painting The Hidden and the Revealed will support the permanent protection of tropical forest in Suriname, with Claire Milner and NoonPowell Fine Art donating 100% of the proceeds from its sale.