Dancing to a Mirror: Lucy Cade

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In this body of work Lucy Cade has given full attention to the female subject in film, as a particularly strong touchstone for empathy. Cade states that this empathy promotes a special kind of prescience and involvement in the act of painting. The painting is not an external reality but something that she becomes part of as she paints it, following its progress with her emotion and mind. While this process is emotionally charged, her marks are highly intentional, with a great sensitivity to brush size and quality of marks, as well as a refined sense of colour and composition. Her practice can be seen as consciously mirroring the method acting techniques used by many of the actresses she portrays. The title Dancine to a Mirror takes its cue from her intention to assume a similar relationship to the painting as her subject assumes to her role. In addition the oval supports become filmic or theatrical spotlights, and shape the movement of Cade’s brush across the surface accordingly.