My work emphasises the mood and emotion of a space; qualities that are intimately related to the psychology of the figures that may or may not be present in them.
Rather than the literal depiction of a subject, I am interested in pursuing a diverse repertoire of mark making and a dynamic set of chromatic and tonal relationships that can accurately evoke the atmosphere and mood of a subject or scenario; a kind of theatre in which the lighting and composition direct the viewer to a particular aspect of the individual and the space they inhabit.
Over the last two years I have sought to reintroduce the figure into spaces that I had previously kept unpopulated. This has raised some fundamental questions for me: How much can a painting of a face tell us about the person? How critical is the context in which the figure is situated?
Particularly since the enlightenment and the rise of the individual, traditional portraiture has focused on the face and the figure dominating the canvas to tell the story of the subject. It conveys the essence of the subject by drawing out their traits. The background tends to be less significant.
In the portrait of Phillip Adams, I aimed to subvert the hierarchy of depiction. I chose to paint him almost engulfed by his beloved collection of antiquities and curiosities; one form, one figure, one temporality amongst many. The environment and its atmosphere has its own kind of face and it is painted equally, if not more expressive than that of its inhabitant.
Whilst painting Phillip, further questions arose: Can I convey the person via the surroundings they have constructed around them? By foregrounding the background so to speak, my subject’s surroundings and their relationship to it reveals a lot about who they are. I do not wish to reduce the figure to the objects or use them in a symbolic nature of Holbein’s paintings. I want to raise questions about the location of the subject; within the person, where is the self, where is the identity? I want to explore the organic connection between the figure and their surroundings.
Upon entering the studio of Janet Laurence, the visitor is confronted by a proliferating manifestation of the artist’s processes of thinking and making. Laurence strives for a deeper connection with the natural world and her practice is her principal mode of investigating and expressing its fragility and vulnerability. My paintings aim to convey the artists intimate and poetic connection with her subject matter.
My earlier work focused on theatrical elements of interiors, depicting scenes as living explorations of the theatre and drama of a space, raising questions about the history and the meaning we attach to certain spaces.
In this suite of paintings I have chosen to portray pre-eminent cultural figures alongside those without a public persona. I have complicated the relationship between viewer and subject by integrating the elements of the figure’s most familiar and intimate spaces, or by omitting the person altogether. I want to draw the viewer into complex questions about self and identity. What does someone’s intimate surroundings reveal about them? Is it as relevant as their face when looking to map identity? What is the connection between the subject, the objects they surround themselves with and their identity?
I want the viewer to see, through the illusion of portraiture - which is, that we can know the subject through their face alone.
Renata Pari-Lewis, 2022