By Seth Searle
2024
oil on canvas
53x43cm framed
ARTIST STATEMENT
"The works for this exhibition were initially inspired by imposing the limitation on myself of working only from years old reference imagery. By drawing on the gestures and objects in those photographs, I was forcing myself to reexamine the interactions, looking for new meanings and propositions. By cropping and zooming in on some areas, zooming out in others, or adding and subtracting vessels, I was able to repopulate familiar landscapes with new props. By playing with the scale of the pieces, my aim was to hone in on the moment before contact: just before the water is poured, or the glass is picked up, or the jug is moved, so that the domestic gesture freezes and can become a little unfamiliar."
BIO
Through her painting, Seth Searle investigates the relationship between identity and performativity. Working with imagery of cropped limbs, she considers the dominance of the hand, its connection to and escape from the body. Her tableaux also feature motifs of fabrics and various containers, considering the value we place on the vessel and gestures of domestic nurture. Motifs are arranged theatrically, with hands and vessels interacting as if on a stage, giving a sense that there is another space, out of frame, that the viewer cannot see but is still subconsciously aware of. Searle aims through her paintings to articulate a feeling of theatrical uncertainty in regards to the performance of self and ask the question: what parts of this performance are visible?