Frankly, I am just delighted to be in as a finalist. True story! Ultimately, the winner gets a nice stash of cash and kudos, but there's a lot of bitching about the work too . Trust me, I've been in the audience many years and heard it! I'm not sure my fragile sensibilities (yes, yes, my ego. Give it a name!) could take it without yelling " Fuck off" after a while. Not a good look. I got in and I got noticed and I am delighted.
I like my work.
I like it very much.
I am proud of it . It is technically sound, it pleasing to look at without being obvious and its not obtuse enough to make people look at it sideways and edge away muttering " my kid could do that". It holds it's own.
Technically, its quite an interesting painting. I painted in oil onto mylar (otherwise known as architectural drafting paper) which I then mounted onto archival photo mount paper. I then cut the painting up into squares 5 x 5 cm( or maybe 6 x 6 cm. I misremember) and reassembled them into a grid- like pattern. This device abstracted the original botanical image of grass and the reconstruction of it lent an otherworldly yet recognisable air to the final complete image
The Grass is always greener...we all know how the old saying goes, but I beg to add my own twist to it.
The grass is always greener ...wherever you water it. Makes sense.
The Grass is always greener
Oil on mylar
36 cm h x 26 cm w
On show at the NZPPA 17 February 2017 till 26 February 2017
My accompanying statement:
My painting occupies a space where reality, imagination and memory all hold equal tenancy.
My status as immigrant informs my work, exploring loss of familiar with the excitement of new opportunities, linking them through the vehicle of landscape.
The tension between realism and abstraction, coupled with my interest in introducing memory and imagination into my paintings manifests in the "broken image" quality that I have emphasised by cutting up and existing landscape and reformatting it to create a new landscape. The image is recognisably familiar to be comforting but different in a way that keeps the viewer interested and invested in establishing a personal understanding.
Ps. Sorry for swearing.
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