My Latest Paintings

 Freeze Frame 1 Oil on Canvas 600x2000mm  2012

 Freeze Frame 2 Oil on Canvas 200x1500mm  2012

 Freeze Frame 3 Oil on Canvas 400x1200mm  2012

These works were exhibited in the Wellington Fringe Festival as part of the translucent landscapes exhibition

http://translucent-landscapes.blogspot.co.nz/ 

for more information about the project.

This was a statement I wrote to accompany the work

Artist’s Statement

On reflecting upon the idea of translucency and how it is expressed in my practice I began to think how it relates to clarity of memories of landscapes that have had significance for me.  The obscuring agent can be water, mist, or in this case time. The last time I went to the Antarctic was late in 2001 (a summer with white nights). How much is the remembered image in the mind’s eye based upon photos rather than the actual experience?  The actual memory is foggy and incomplete without the photo as a reminder of specific details.

 When I was preparing for this show I thought images of Antarctica would express the idea of translucency with the subtle semi- transparent blues and greens of ice contrasting with the black lava outcrops and partially obscured with drifting veils of cloud with cobalt shadows cast upon the snowfields.  I went through my slides and found images I’d abandoned, looked again and saw possibilities that I’d missed 10 years ago.

 I have often found that an insignificant photo can make a good starting point for a painting with more possibilities for creating something that goes beyond the original image. There is a point when the photo is abandoned as reference material and the painted image dictates the next step resulting in a parallel entity with its own reality, communicating a sensation of movement and expansion beyond the frame.  

for biography and past works go to 
www.margaretelliot.co.nz