July Seminar 2022

He tina ki runga, he tāmore ki raro

In order to flourish above, one must be firmly rooted below

Body Language, July 2022, series of paintings, oil on ( unstretched) Belgian linen

These works are an exploration of how the body can be used to evoke intellectual and emotional engagement through a painterly language.

I attempt to redefine the traditional subjects of figurative painting against a psychosocial discourse of identity and the interior mind of my female experience.

As a woman painter representing the female form, I seek to carve out a space to reflect on my own female agency. These works are created within a feminist framework in attempt to honour, empower and make space for the feminine form.

In view of diversifying my figurative work, I am interested in Michelangelo’s sixteenth century drawings as a way to reconsider composition and space. I find the rawness of these unfinished works evoke a tenderness that I would like to use as template for resolved works.

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, is a British painter that interests me. Her work prompts me to rethink my gestural hand, for the purpose of evoking a powerful sensory experience through the materiality of paint.

Body Language II

1090mm x 790mm

Oil on Belgian linen

Body Language I

1080mm x 900mm

Oil on Belgian Linen

Body Language III

1190mm x 1080mm

Oil on Belgian linen

Body Language IV

1080mm x 800mm

Oil on Belgian linen