Monday, April 23, 2012
Margaret Elliot: My Latest Antarctic Paintings
Margaret Elliot: My Latest Paintings: Freeze Frame 1 Oil on Canvas 600x2000mm 2012 Freeze Frame 2 Oil on Canvas 200x1500mm 2012 Freeze Frame 3 Oil...
Sunday, April 22, 2012
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
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 blue s 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.
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