My work explores the relationship between the behaviours within a constricted environment and a conflicting practice leading to a fortunate stroke of serendipity.

 

Many people are calmed by an environment of order. Home is a place not only of comfort but control. During these overwhelming times, finding an escape through acrylic painting on a hard wood surface has been oddly liberating. This sense of order, in its man-made, natural-form-inspired landscape, acts as a shield against the confinement of my own apathetic space. The artwork, inspired by a triptych composition, allows me to emerge myself into the soothing green foliage whilst remaining confined and protected against Covid-19. This mural is very site-specific because it can only exist where I have made it, in my bedroom in my mother’s home. It is impossible to take apart and if I did remove it from its environment it would lose all meaning and complimentary affiliation with its origin.

 

My creative process in relation to this project has consisted of two parts: observation and intuition and then order and serendipity. This work is an examination of the different forms a shield can make and the thoughts that lies behind it. I use a chaotic, but repeated pattern in the landscape whilst producing a light and soft tone. I employed a matt, rough texture through dry blending yet the finished product is clean and defined. In spite of the fact that the colour palette is a combination of green, pink, purple, brown and blue the outcome is harmonious. An artist that has inspired me greatly is Tomma Abts. Her work is very methodological and geometric, however her process is intuitive and freeing.

 

My graphite drawings are concerning an imaginative communal space. My previous work has been referring to memories of café culture and scenes. I make use of a distancing effect within my drawings as a symbolic way of revealing how far away these ‘everyday’ scenes are from our current reality.

 

The source of my escapism has become a way for me to transform my surrounding into a sanctuary. My shield, in regard to the mural, has subconsciously developed into a way of questioning the attitudes and observations about the pandemic, and the unwritten rules behind forming an environment and our behaviour within it. This exhibition is the first step for me, as I continue to paint my mural, my thoughts and attitudes will change.

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