Exhibition statement 

In my practice I explore how the night changes the emotions we feel in mundane places. Using thinned oil paint freely, creating an atmosphere of unknown forms that evoke fear and uncertainty emulating Freud’s ‘Undheimlich’ but in terms of the outside world. My focus is to capture my own lived experience and the feeling that a lot of people, like minority groups and often just people who aren’t men will feel at night, how unsafe the streets are and how many people long to be able to walk around at night without danger. 

The work shows a series of scenes on a nights walk, walking through memories and shapes some recognisable some so warped in the darkness. I use my own memories and lived experience as a woman thinking of of drunken walks home to inspire the pieces and ideas as the memories become a lot darker when I realised that a lot of those nights could’ve been my last, how vulnerable I was and many other people are. The other side to the work is the longing of wanting to be able to walk at night safely, the lights seeming so enticing and beautiful in a way, the streets at night have become so unknown that they’re now a place of wonder. 

I attempt to use the paint and the various sizes of the paintings harmoniously in creating a terrifying yet romantic scene of a lit up street or petrol station. My aim is to convey the emotion felt walking through the streets alone at night through darkness and light, layers of dripping paint through more strengthened brushstrokes, having a lot of contrasting elements such as these that create the narrative of the world seeming so off and so uncertain yet enticing to the eye. Using influence from my previous work that centred around the myth and mystical, I intertwine a terrible reality with a mystery within the use of the paint. The night is full of wonder and horror and for many people they only get to experience the latter, we’ve all had to rush home in the dark only taking glances at the environment around us, this exhibition aims to showcase that feeling, going on a journey through painting of a walk that may seem uninteresting in the day, but the strange shapes in the darkness creating strange images make this walk unusual and scary. The spaces seeming so empty yet so full, there being no one around but yourself which through painting I wanted to convey the feeling that there is always someone there, the feeling of being watched and the paranoia felt before making it back home safely. 

 

 

CV

Previous Exhibitions

2015 – Brick Lane Gallery

2015 – Brick Lane – the Annexe

2018 – Camberwell College of Arts Show, 

2020 – Face to Face 

Upcoming

2021 – FUSE 

Education

2017-2018 Camberwell College of Arts

2018-2021 University of Brighton

Instagram: @Hess.art