It is lovely being back in the studio now that my studies have finished for the academic year. Then again, my research continues on, both in my practice and reading.
During my lock-down walks I had been taking photographs of the urban environment, specifically focusing on what I considered to be natural collage occurring within nature.
Focusing on some of the common themes that occur within collage, I have selected a few of these photographs where I paint within these images.
‘Oil and water’ begins from a photo of an oil slick in a puddle. The bits of leaves and dirt contained within the oily visage suggest an elusive world of colour and mystery, similar to the ocean or an aquarium.
‘Surface’ focuses on the ruptured and peeling shapes and textures emerging on the surface of an old metal post.
‘Leaves on the ground’ reveal a contrast of the shapes and colours of the leaves juxtaposed and layered against the more subdued colour and gritty quality of the ground.
My own imaginings and way of thinking play a key role in these works starting from the selection and capturing of the photographs in the first place to the intervention and transformation using paint. There is a meditative connection between the activities of walking, observing, photographing and painting and in all aspects, the body is some way involved.
