It was whilst perusing the artwork at the Saatchi Gallery, during my London visit, when I came across the artist Chantal Joffe, whose work I have researched in the past.
Despite my immediate interest in the subject matter of her paintings, it was not until I read the caption within the exhibition guide when I deciphered the significant link between her work and my own.
Just as I have been doing for my current project, Joffe also sources some of her images from family photo-albums. What, therefore, became most interesting for me regarding her work was the approach she had taken to recreate these images within a piece of art.
Although there are larger paintings displayed by Joffe within the gallery space, what is most intriguing to me is the set of 81 smaller works which are hung in a line upon one wall. It is the smaller scale of these pieces which help the viewer, and certainly me, to envisage these images within a photo album. I think this is something which is integral to my own work, acknowledging where the images have been sourced from and representing them in a way which is still able to maintain this sense of nostalgia which many feel towards to their family photo albums.
Selecting which images to use from my own old photographs has also been a significant element in how they come across once represented within a painting or print. It was interesting to discover the sort of photographs which this artist had used, whether posed or perhaps more spontaneous. As in my own work, Joffe utilises a mixture of both. I believe what this shows is an honesty about life, embracing the moments inbetween where the person within isn’t ‘camera ready’ and acknowledging the reality of family life.
The series of 81 paintings are displayed in two rows and stretch almost the entire length of the gallery wall. There are, however, a few gaps where it seems like there should be another painting. Whilst there may be no significant reasoning for this other than for compositional effect, I am reminded of my own family photo albums where certain photographs are absent. I believe this is able to aptly symbolize the vulnerability of memories, how easily they can be misplaced and lost.
This can relate back to what I have commented on in my previous post regarding painting on photographs and a negative space.
I find myself focusing more and more on what I do not remember, becoming increasingly interested in what is no longer present…the epitomy of my whole retrospective project.
