I LOOK AT YOU, AND YOU LOOK AT ME: RECOGNISING THE SELF IN THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT.
My work explores the inherent power of the natural environment and its ability to be used as a mirror with which to explore the self. By being in close connection with the natural environment, the intellectualised false barrier between myself and the world on the other side of my being can be removed. In my practice I investigate how visual language can help translate my internal landscape onto a surface, using imagery of nature as a method of communication. My work explores the space between representation and gestural abstraction. These concepts are explored visually in a range of aesthetic choices, sometimes pure abstraction to communicate particular energies or feelings that I experience when creating the work. Particularly in large scale works, I include semi-representational imagery of trees or bodies of water as a stand-in for myself. These stand-ins allow me to symbolically see myself in the natural environment, and when I gaze at these I feel as if I’m gazing into and communicating with a deeper part of my psyche. The colours and application of paint that I use additionally help me communicate my concept. I gravitate towards using soft greens, yellow ochre and brown tones and I use a lot of white in my work. I paint in glazed layers, which gradually become blurred and blended with the use of white which creates a soft dreamlike aesthetic that is a visual representation of my internal state that I access when I create work.
instagram: @emmavictoria_art
