Alive and From The Archive
Kaye Doanachie + Nadia Hebson + Rachael House
Kaye Doanachie
Kaye Doanachie uses figurative images of women in her mystical utopia paintings of imagined women using literary references and archival materials. ‘ Radical women often including writers, activists, poets and artists’ (1)’ Donachie women are situated in a nostalgic colour pallet ‘dream like portraits of women inspired by real figures – often depicted alone, or sometimes as part of a small group.’ (3). Often cropped, zoomed frames, which focus on face and hands. This style of composition is one I frequently employ within my representations of women, creating intimacy.
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2)https://pallant.org.uk/whats-on/talk-meet-the-artist-kaye-donachie/
3) https://www.apollo-magazine.com/in-the-studio-with-kaye-donachie/
Nadia Hebson
Nadia Hebson creates paintings and objects with a self-reflexive approach to painting. Her works are both abstract and figurative and can include text. Her works are an example of reworking, re-evaluating and appropriating historical art images, exploring the ongoing theme of ‘subjective biography’. Hebson’s work is in conversation with the history of painting, specifically the history of women artists before her. Her work explores the feminine experience and is empathic and subjective. 1) When exploring Hobson’s work, I am struck by how varied and multi-disciplinary her work is. I like how her objects interact and converse with the photography or clothing they are placed on top of. Her work uses a variety of strategies to create narrative paintings that connect and link. For example, when displaying a portrait, Hebson will also show a landscape, object or shipwreck.4) This is to give the viewer an indication of the female protagonist’s life.
Hebson’s practice explores and examines these specific questions:
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Given the once emotive currency of dramatic iconography, can contemporary painting re-approach an emotional seriousness?
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Given the contradictions, ambiguities and specificities of portraiture, can portraiture, expressly of women, move beyond simple objectification into a subtler terrain?
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Can the re-assessment and reworking of a divergent set of historical sources and painting approaches allow new interpretations and readings of established visual languages and iconography to emerge?
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Can these contingent meanings be heightened and extended through installation?
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Can these new configurations approach the articulation of a feminine experience? 2)
1)http://images.xhbtr.com/v2/pdfs/492/NH_Arco_copy.pdf
2) https://research.ncl.ac.uk/sacs/fine_art/research_profiles/nadiahebson/
3) https://www.frieze.com/article/nadia-hebson
4) https://research.ncl.ac.uk/sacs/fine_art/research_profiles/nadiahebson/
