FISHERMAN'S WOMAN PAINTINGS 2014 - 2015
Alluring in their surface, my paintings teeter
between flat abstraction and illusionistic space. Heavy impasto is layered to
create rich topographies which embody the processes of investigation and discovery.
Energetic marks are carved into the paint as meaning and image are unearthed in
tandem during the process of creation.
The title of the paintings comes from a song by
Icelandic singer, Emiliana Torrini. Fisherman’s
Woman tells the story of a wife who awaits the return of her husband, a
commercial fisherman, away at sea for long periods of time. It is a beautiful
metaphor for separation and loneliness in the context of an intimate
relationship. Essentially, we are all the Fisherman’s Woman, for no matter how
deep our companionship, we will forever remain two separate and distinct human
beings.
These paintings address my own experience of
individual identity in the context of marriage - an intense entanglement of two
people. In the work, I uncover a personal symbology which is both whimsical and
profound. Simple skiffs are presented in low relief; upended or floating
through the format. Hearts rendered in bold fuchsias bleed onto the surrounding
field of paint. The significance of these images is largely biographical, yet
they retain a sense of universality in their simplicity. The resultant works are psychological
landscapes filled with images of boats, fish, hearts, cages, and vessels.
