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Statement
My paintings deal with the notion of care, abstracting the human body to be a minimal form that is infantile, still forming and vulnerable. We care for our bodies in order to increase the longevity of our lives and I wanted to turn this to the care I take of my paintings as well.
The paintings are nurtured from the beginning, from the first coat of acrylic and throughout the process of making decisions of how I want the forms to socialise and co-exist in the space of the canvas. Colour palettes that are commonly used in skin care packaging predominantly inform the aesthetic alongside everyday inspiration from clothing and interiors that our bodies exist within. Acrylics are used to achieve flatness as well as a softness of colour, relating to a gentleness that resides within the space the forms exist in.
The interaction of the developing forms create a language. How the forms learn to coexist by intertwining, curving around, lying on top or below of each other.
Holly Hendry’s flesh toned sculptures influence the softness of my paintings through the flatness of colour and bodily connection in both of our practices. Hendry breaches the traditional boundaries of sculpture through displaying her sculptures hung upon walls or laid flat on the wall and floor. The play on traditional display techniques for painting and sculpture resonates with my practice by seeing how I can push the notion of care further into how I display my paintings using the surrounding space.
Email: elle.guest@hotmail.co.uk
www.elleguest.com