Artistic approach
Exhibitions:
Solo
- 2016, A Crazy Yellow Theory, the love series, at Lacey Contemporary Gallery. Details about the collection.
Group
- 2016, Explorations, at Walton Fine Arts Gallery.
- 2018, Figuratively speaking, at Elizabeth James Gallery.
Artistic approach
I feel like you can only be an artist if you have an identifiable style. Or an identifiable element. Or a signature brush move. Something recognizable. Something that any critic can take a look and say, oh yes, that is such and such. And the best ones are the easiest to identify.
Monet, is one I admire. His best work is the utter epitome of a rigid routine. I discovered my favorite of Monet’s paintings: San Giorgio Maggiore by Twilight, while briefly walking through the Cardiff National Museum, after an unrelated workshop at the University.
I knew it was Monet without looking at the side-card. The colors are a bit unusual for the Monet I know. He loves the more delicate ones. It’s like he adds sour cream to his paintings, turning towards the colder nuances. But this one, this one was fiery. I stared so much at the twilight that I did not have any more minutes to spare for the rest of the museum.
His signature brushstroke was there. This was his contribution to the world of art and paintings. It made his work a classic.
I am in search of my artistic approach, or my element. An element, that I hope, can at least move some pebbles, if it doesn’t reach the mountains. An element, that will identify me as an artist and my work as good food for the critics to comment on. An element, that will run through my personality to my art and vice-versa.
And so, as an attempt to find that element, I thought first about my state of mind. I have been over-empathic with anything from events happening in my life, to theater pieces and even hollywood movies and all their drama. Caught up in this hurricane of endless feelings and sensations, I set myself to study them through art and relaxation. I am, thus, excited to present my most recent paintings as a collection of emotions.
The latest research from University of Glasgow has found that, actually, there are only four basic human emotions. As opposed to what was originally believed to be six. Happy. Sad. Angry. And Surprised. There is also the disgusted and scared. But apparently, these share similar facial expressions with angry and surprised.
My works from 2014-2015 follow 4 moods: happy, sad, angry and surprised. Each mood has a couple of paintings that I’ve done while experiencing those emotions. This is the connecting element between the paintings.
This year (2017), I am further exploring my artistic approach while ruminating on one particular mood expressed by the color of yellow. I have been researching and thinking about what is yellow and what was yellow in my life. I find myself drawn to the colour yellow because of its purity. Yellow cannot be created from any other colours. It is a primary colour in the standard model colour wheel and a primary hue in the less known painter’s colour wheel (CMY). Yellow juxtaposes two sides. On the one side, yellow is a colour that inspires happiness and positive energy – think sunlight and the sand on the beach. On the other side, it is often used to caution us against looming danger, think traffic signs, construction signs, and electric cupboards. In my recent paintings, I explore this duality of the colour yellow.
I work mainly in acrylics and sometimes add a few other media.