by Emily Oades
My practice has shifted from two very different mediums this year, starting out with video work which flourished into putting all my efforts into painting. At first, I began observing the everyday, our routines as we were encompassed by monotony and repetitiveness. However, the monotony I couldn’t escape physically was now taking over my practice, something I would usually use as an escape, now felt like confinement. Nevertheless, this prompted me for the work you now see exhibited, as through moving images I felt the movement and uncertainty of specific actions incredibly exciting, asking myself if I could translate this to a medium I’m most confident in; oil painting.
Here is my response to XYZ.
With the constant bombardment of terrible news occurring for months on end and still today, I needed something else to improve both my motivation and practice desperately. This in turn directed me to tender moments, those that we share with partners but also platonic relationships. The warm embrace we all took for granted, stripped away from our everyday lives and now in constant regret of how precious those small moments actually are.
Through this regret, but also familiarity with the medium of oil paint, I wanted to encapsulate these moments wholly. To create vivid, warm colours that ‘melt’ across the surface, coupled with complimentary ones to bond the whole image together in an expressionistic way.
The application of paint has always been captivating to me. The layering and endless possibilities you have with oil colours, paired with varying thicknesses to create fluid and evocative motion throughout the painting is my main intention for every piece I do. Allowing one’s eye to be ever moving, observing every small detail that culminates into a balance of the distinguishable to the indistinguishable. Sections of the paintings begin to emerge which are suggestive of figurative forms but tied to the array of fluctuating colours, unpredictable in application but ceaselessly transforming throughout the painting.
With a heavy focus on the process, it allows me to free myself from representational forms and set colours, using my intuition and awareness of which colours I want upon the surface to embody the painting. This unrestricted way of working factors in many spontaneous techniques, through my brush work, to the layering of which colour would compliment or enhance the painting.
The yearning for many people I miss at this moment in time undeniably inspired me to take this route within my painting, loosening my whole style up and enjoying the pitfalls and triumphs of painting. I just can’t wait to hug those closest in my life once again. This is my response to XYZ.
Gratitude :)