The Outsiders proudly welcome Brazilian artist Nina Pandolfo to our Newcastle gallery with her ?Spice Angels? series of paintings, overflowing with lively patterned, vibrantly coloured canvases and sculptures.

In Feelings, the popular and expressive wide-eyed girls created by Pandolfo in her earlier work have acquired mature, confident styles and demeanours. Making a departure from her childlike, timid girls with glassy questioning eyes these beauty-conscious and daring characters are more sophisticated, with elongated forms plus a deeper and more contemplative gaze. Whilst steering her fictional creations towards a more developed stage with plentiful references to the world of fashion, Pandolfo continues to seek inspiration from a certain playful sensitivity and treasured childhood memories.

Talking about her ?Spice Angels? Pandolfo explains, 'Each one of the girls is more mature and striking, with a strong personality ... of her own which differs from the others. It isn?t the way it was when we were kids, we all wanted to dress the same way to create the feeling of belonging to the same tribe.' But for the artist, the age marked on an identity card is meaningless: 'Mental age is more important. Girls adopt their own state of mind and are not chained down by time.'

The history of high fashion, Japanese trends and steampunk culture have all contributed to the style and invention of Pandolfo?s girls, which don a variety of outfits from lacy burlesque corsets to sci-fi styles, alluding to both retro and futuristic fads. Pandolfo comments, 'Fashion on the street is totally free and can be translated as a cry of freedom. I went wild on mixtures, the fusion of the imaginary with the real, romantic with the sensual, amongst many other combinations.'