Sheffield Gallery Open Exhibition 2015

On Friday 16th January I was delighted to be chosen as the winner of the 2015 Sherfield Gallery Open Exhibition. The gallery has presented me with the wonderful opportunity to have a solo show in April 2016, lots of fantastic rooms to fill and lots of new work to produce.  The previous three posts are of the artworks I submitted for the competition which are on show at the Sherfield Gallery which runs from 19th January to 12th March.

http://www.sherfieldgallery.co.uk/Current_Exhibition.html

http://www.sherfieldgallery.co.uk/Summer_exhibition_2016.html

The Man From Krakow

The Man From Krakow Acrylic on Canvas 80cm x 60cm

This painting explores what we perceive as familiar and how we can be deceived by a façade. The unfamiliar dressed in the familiar and what we take for granted with our eyes. As an artist I am fascinated and drawn to the personas that we establish around ourselves, either for protection, the need to hide or in some instances to stand out.  For this piece I was drawn to a subject of more blatant social subterfuge as it is quite something when a person chooses to assume an identity or persona for advancement in the hope of elevating themselves forward in life. In this painting a Polish man uses a traditional iconic costume and bends it to his own will.  We are looking at a man confidently hiding in plain sight.

I have approached this painting by using hand painted text which presents the viewer with the thoughts behind the figure. At first glance we are presented with familiar iconic apparel, however moving closer to the canvas we are able to read a fragment of what lies beneath the man.

Details from painting

Killing It Didn’t Make The Love Go Away

Killing It Didn't Make The Love Go Away Acrylic on Canvas 90cm x 76cm

            

As an artist I want to entice the viewer closer towards the surface of my artwork. The hand painted text incorporated within the painting displays the difficulties of the coming to terms with the break-up of a relationship and how the Bonsai as a complex and ultimately high maintenance form of controlled nature leaves with it a bitter reminder.

I chose to explore the notion that within the modern world our relationships towards objects are constantly changing. I am interested in how we imbue our possessions with emotions, social aspirations, anxieties and the general conundrums presented throughout day-to-day life. I chose the bonsai tree as a subject matter because I see it as a representational symbol of stoicism, poise and grace, yet it also displays the ideal image of a silent demand for patience and commitment.  In this painting the Bonsai represents a strong cypher serving as an unwanted relic, a leftover surrogate from the past.

Detail from painting

Saturday Night Soliloquy

Saturday Night Soliloquy Acrylic on Canvas 60cm x 60cm

What happens when everyone tries to get a piece of you? A person depicted in a situation, a decision that has been made which could possibly have moved beyond the point of love and into a more complicated and uncomfortable arrangement of dependency and control. I wanted to allude to the main figure’s relationship through the dog which pulls aggressively but also desperately. I wanted to use the dog as a device to illustrate the control of the third party not present within the picture. This cypher animal also seems to shoulder the desperate affection of “Don’t leave me I can change”. A magpie surveying the composition a bird notorious for theft may in this instance actually be a conduit for hiding something for safekeeping.  I wanted to have the central figure in the painting holding a simplified version of herself as an offering of both confidence and vulnerability. She is not at her wits end, but she is questioning questionable choices. As I progressed with this painting I wanted to keep the use of text very succinct and matter of fact. As demonstrated in the title of the artwork I came to feel that the canvas became a stage.

Detail from Painting

Detail from Painting

Detail from Painting