Earth pigment, wax and organic gesso with contrast edges on fine linen and bespoke board support
20 x 17.5 x 4.5cm
In the Ground Undone: Edge paintings, I subvert the traditional role of gesso as a ground upon which a painting is made. The ground becomes the painting itself; a body, surface and history. Layers of natural earth and mineral pigment, wax and organic gesso are built slowly, then deliberately fractured: an act of unmaking and remaking, held in suspension between intention and chance.
The paintings extend beyond their frontal surface. A contrasting white edge wraps around the bespoke board support, creating a deliberate tension between page and margin, and asking the eye to travel over, around and beyond the apparent boundary of the work. In a Derridean sense, the margin is not secondary; what resides at the edge, subtly and almost imperceptibly, can hold as much meaning as what occupies the centre.
Once fractured, the surface is gathered back into itself, sealed and polished with handmade natural beeswax. The resulting object feels at once ancient and intimate; a small, precious remnant of something undone, restored and preserved. Ground Undone is both painting and object: a meditation on imperfection, fracture, repair, memory and the quiet traces left by time.
Earth pigment, wax and organic gesso with contrast edges on fine linen and bespoke board support
20 x 17.5 x 4.5cm
In the Ground Undone: Edge paintings, I subvert the traditional role of gesso as a ground upon which a painting is made. The ground becomes the painting itself; a body, surface and history. Layers of natural earth and mineral pigment, wax and organic gesso are built slowly, then deliberately fractured: an act of unmaking and remaking, held in suspension between intention and chance.
The paintings extend beyond their frontal surface. A contrasting white edge wraps around the bespoke board support, creating a deliberate tension between page and margin, and asking the eye to travel over, around and beyond the apparent boundary of the work. In a Derridean sense, the margin is not secondary; what resides at the edge, subtly and almost imperceptibly, can hold as much meaning as what occupies the centre.
Once fractured, the surface is gathered back into itself, sealed and polished with handmade natural beeswax. The resulting object feels at once ancient and intimate; a small, precious remnant of something undone, restored and preserved. Ground Undone is both painting and object: a meditation on imperfection, fracture, repair, memory and the quiet traces left by time.
