Statement

..………….‘feeling, after all, is always and everywhere the one and only source of every creation.’                  Kasamir Malevich

For me, much of the power of a painting lies in its ambiguity. The idea that imagination not only invents but can combine elements and insights in a coherent and compelling way began in the Romantic movement and came to the forefront in Surrealism.  

‘Inspiration’ is a troubling word which can suggest a response to the physical world or an enlightening blast from the heavens, but I tend to rely on ever-changing notions that come from looking inward, moving freely between degrees of abstraction and figuration.

Making a painting is a difficult journey which can last weeks or years.  I work in layers, adding, adjusting and removing elements until form, colour and texture issues are resolved. The painting process itself often encourages alteration. In this digital world the materiality and uniqueness of an artwork are important to me and paintings must show some of the history of their making. Scraped and broken elements lend a feeling of presence. Weirdly, a finished piece takes on a life of its own, almost as if it wasn’t made by me. 

I experiment with different materials including graphite, charcoal, pastel and oil. As my working methods need a fast drying time professional acrylic, much improved in recent years, is my chosen paint. Every work is protected by a meticulous application of varnish.

’These paintings defy any sort of literal reading; even where there is a landscape within the picture it does not abide by the rules of the real world since here we are in a different landscape of the psyche’

Vanessa Lacey Irving Gallery Oxford