By Keren Simmons
I am fascinated by the visual conventions of street signage and the function of the sign as an informative, yet beautiful image produced by the correlation of colour and symbol; and its operation at the intersection of both written and visual information. Using paint to produce artworks of gateways, I explore the crossover between what may be considered functional design and fine art.
In this series of gateways my intention is to adopt the visual conventions of street signage and apply them to my paintings in order to produce works that have multiple capacities. Functioning as objects, as illustrations and as historic visual reminders, the gateway represents a threshold. A symbol for the point of transition between separated spaces and a barrier that invites access. This series is the final instalment from my exploration of thresholds which began in 2018."