Paintings as Objects

About

Reflecting the artists interests in materiality and the transportive potential of the medium, Paintings as Objects is a new series of work which takes inspiration from ideas around modernity and escapism. 

The exhibited pieces visibly evidence the painting process as Denyer investigates the capacity that paintings have to be substantial, self contained, weighty objects in their own right. She foregoes stretched canvas in favour of hardboard and plywood surfaces. These handmade supports are employed for their surface textures and their ability to withstand multiple layers of paint. The handling of paint and the interaction between the medium and the raw surface upon which it is applied is a primary consideration within Denyer’s practice. Her process is one that is open to diversion, as she intuitively responds to inherent qualities of the medium and sets to work an interplay that allows the materiality of paint to direct her actions.

The exhibited paintings have been influenced by traditional landscape art forms, notions of foreground and background, movement and structure. Thought has been given to spatial themes through wide scale experimentation with compositional elements. Denyer’s ability to recognise certain tensions or moments of balance during the making process is what gives the paintings impetus. The work communicates careful considerations around form and colour which are often mirrored from one painting to the next, highlighting dialogues between individual pieces. 

Denyer’s visual language incorporates the architecturally inspired hard edges of geometric abstraction, fluorescent colours and areas of flat monochrome. These sit in vivid contrast with spontaneous brushstrokes and the natural wood of the supports. The abstract nature of the work renders its symbolism open to interpretation, however the viewer is invited to consider broad themes of the organic, the artificial, transience and entropy.

Lisa Denyer was awarded a solo exhibition at PS Mirabel as part of receiving first prize in the PS Mirabel Open ‘Shelf Life’. PS Mirabel is an artist led gallery in central Manchester that provides an experimental exhibition space for emerging and established artists.