Penny Hamblin : on the edge

About

In her first solo exhibition at ARCH, London based artist Penny Hamblin is showing a group of abstract paintings from an on-going series. These works draw on her obsession with the elements of sky and water in her work, which she states is partly fuelled by living near the River Thames. The Thames presents us with a powerful symbol of nature in our lives in a modern metropolis, running through the heart of our city.

Many artists have depicted vistas along the Thames, where mans endeavors meet nature. Hamblin explores this idea, offering us the notion as seen through the eyes of the viewer, always looking outwards, towards this distant horizon, with the picture plane acting as the viewing point.

Her paintings, all oil on canvas are constructed using thin layers built up one on top of another, so that the finished effect is a journey to discover what lies beneath. Memory, absence and presence seem an inherent character of the process. A feeling of longing and belonging exudes from the surface. As in nature, there is more to these paintings than initially meets the eye, and on each gaze another aspect is revealed.