Candidates Exhibition, RWA

Six artists have been selected for the Royal West Academy Academician Candidates Exhibition. The exhibition is in the Kenny Gallery and is for artists with proven track record within their field, it’s a significant achievement to get to the final stage of the nomination process. Open to the public at the RWA, Bristol from 12th September - 18th October.

‘Umbilical’, ‘Gathering’, ‘Constant Beat’ and ‘Mend’ are the four paintings that will be presented at the Candidates Exhibition. Rooted in observation of the natural world and using the familiar motifs of landscape painting, this grouping of work infers a link to the body and to human experience.

I was struck by an image of Brancusi’s sculpture 'Infinity Column’ while I was painting ‘Umbilical’. The russet red form that rises through the centre of my painting is a recall to Brancusi’s visualisation of the infinite, something beyond the tangible, approaching the spiritual. In my painting, the infinite column is the cord of life that runs through us, generationally unbroken through birth and reproduction, with the potential to be infinite. What if that chain is broken? This is both a personal and environmental question.

I’m drawn to anthropomorphism and ‘Gathering’ is a playful painting, a familial portrait. I often think of the flowers and plants within my paintings as characters acting out scenarios, expressing harmony or imbalances in relationships, exploring frictions and friendships. It can be an act of soul searching, personal reflection or more whimsical in theme.

In ‘Mend’ I have painted plump buds, seductive flowers juxtaposed with calloused, snapped stems that are scabbing over but healing. Exploring beauty and what repels is fascinating to me; akin to things ripe and on the point of rotting… this transition of state and appeal feels very human.

‘Constant Beat’ references the heart and rhythm; subconsciously attuned and only when there’s something wrong are we really alert to it… a strange lack of control and a feeling of alienation from the body. The abundant flora holds the viewer in a kind of paradise, suffused with hints of abandonment and claustrophobia. This is painting, on circular format, is about life cycles, old giving way to new and the natural order of renewal and decay.