colettestandish@hotmail.com
                                        

Art Statement

 My work attempts to conjoin the tensions that exit between opposites,  centering round masculine and feminine, Yin and Yang,  animus and anima. Using the body as appoint of reference,  this dichotomy has been expressed through paint and photography.

 Photography

 The concept is the photographic concept is seen as a mechanized  masculinity and the gestural strokes of light sensitive emulsion as  the emotional intelligence of the feminine.

This is played out on different surfaces such as wood and paper.  The process of constructing, deconstruction and reconstructing  gives the work an erotic tension that combines force and subtlety

 Paint

 With paint the images come and go evoking impulses that are  dominant and recessive, assertive and passive. The very same  impulses which attack and retreat, will also assert itself in the  foreground and recesses as a subdominant them in the background.

Although physically the body is not used as a point of reference,  the seduction of colours and rhythms are linked to the human spirit  evoking a human presence. Therefore the images are not given  primacy but the interplay of the opposing energies is.  As with the photography, these give rise to tensions and  energies that both create and destroy balance.

 The interaction of the two

Once again it is about bringing opposites together on the same  surface, the abstract and the figurative; Photography and its figurative references and Painting with its abstracts. Photography deconstructs  to the point of abstraction and Painting constructing to the point of figurative.

Both deal with there own energies and tensions yet still exist on the same  surface. Sometimes they work harmoniously and other times they clash.  When they do clash, the images become fragmented and produce  their own rules and regulations of which I find very exciting.

Incorporating drawing into the equation

 Working on both painting and photography simultaneously has been very challenging. What started off as experimental has now developed into a life of its own. Still, in order to give it credence there has to be a connection, which gives it a central point. The work needs to connect with each other in a way, which will allow boundaries to expand and develop. That is where drawing is important. Drawing allows flexibility whilst still maintaining balance. It is the dividing line that creates the opposites and differences i.e. Yin and Yang, masculine and feminine. The veins and sinew of the work consolidates and gives it life.

Conclusion and philosophy

The building up of layers through paint, drawing and photography, along with the complexities that each of the mediums bring and the interaction that it entails, helps to maintain the frisson, tension and balance all at the same time.

 In order to do this one has to challenge the different concepts such as mathematics, logic and philosophy to the point of unfamiliar reference points, form and colour. By constantly addressing these concepts, opposing elements will grow and a new awareness found.

Colette Standish