Paintings | Anti-Fashion | Self v persona | Mixed media work
Hot Must Have
2004, acrylic, oil and synthetic crystals on canvas, 184 x 138 cm
The New Black
2004, acrylic, oil and newsprint on board, 120 x 90 cm
This Season's, Head 1
2000, oil and synthetic crystals on canvas, 51 x 41 cm
This Season's, Head 2
2000, oil and synthetic crystals on canvas, 51 x 41 cm
This Season's Must Have
2004, acrylic, oil and synthetic crystals on canvas, 102 x 76 cm
Double Wow
2005, acrylic, oil and glass beads on canvas, 160 x 120 cm
Fake Carmen
2005, acrylic, oil and glass beads on canvas, 160 x 120 cm
The Things We Do For Love
2005, acrylic and oil on canvas, 120 x 140 cm
Garden Head
2004, acrylic, oil and synthetic crystals on canvas, 75 x 60 cm
Comfort and Joy
2005, acrylic and oil on canvas, 100 x 150 cm
As Grand As England
2004, acrylic, oil and glass beads on canvas, 190 x 170 cm
As Grand As England, Study 2
1999-04, acrylic, oil and glass balls on canvas, 101 x 76 cm
Bow Study for Double Wow
2004, oil and glass beads on board
Glory Day, study
2001, acrylic, oil, marker and polyester glitter on canvas, 41 x 51 cm
I Made It
2001, acrylic, oil and synthetic crystal on board, 120 x 140 cm
New Look
2004, acrylic, oil and synthetic crystals on board, 120 x 86 cm
Looking For Love 2
1999, acrylic, oil and glass balls on board, 76 x 105 cm
Looking For Love 1
1999, acrylic, oil and glass balls on board, 76 x 105 cm
Close-Up 07-02a
2007, acrylic, oil, polyester glitter and marker on canvas, 25.5 x 30.5 cm
Close-Up 03-1
2003, acrylic, oil, polyester glitter and marker on canvas, 25.5 x 30.5 cm
Close-Up 07-3a
2007, acrylic, oil, polyester glitter and marker on canvas, 25.5 x 30.5 cm
Close-Up 07-03B
2007, acrylic, oil, polyester glitter and marker on canvas, 25.5 x 30.5 cm
Close-Up 07-01
2007, acrylic, oil, polyester glitter and marker on board, 14 x 20 cm
Paintings
Anti-Fashion Series
2000-07
Mixed media
I want to depict the role of the persona in front of the self and how much of it (the self) survives the compromises we make.
Paintings have to have a beginning. The ones here start their life as a response to an image or thought, a facet of a conceptual whole that binds them together. In this series of works, fashion is being used both as the subject and as questioning of contemporary behaviour. The 'contents', be it balloons, shoes, cloth or armours, are deliberately disquieting. Their physical presence at the surface of the painting is not one of comfort. The hat eclipses the woman; we do see what she wants us to see, but this does not hold and perhaps what we are left with is an awareness of her insecurity.
Again in 'Comfort and Joy', the red shoes at first gain our attention, but their elegance is replaced by the fear and pain of negotiating this particular painting surface, which is patterned with 'visual holes'. In "Hot Must Have", we sense the human presence, but the spatial relationships within the canvas negate any interaction. Colour comes forward suggesting slogans or advertisements that occupy the remaining surface. It is a void in which a shimmering ghostly figure seems to be reassured that all is just as it should be.
Extract from 'Brazilian Knots Gallery 32 2003-2006'
Edited by Luis Felipe Fortuna
Published 2006 by the Brazilian Embassy in London