Archive Velvet Noir
Pieces from the Velvet Noir Series 2005-2007
Intimate, eerie paintings and collages sourced from film stills of a 1960s gothic horror movie, inspired by the daguerreotypes, tintypes and photographs of the nineteenth centuary. The images contain an underlying atmosphere of tension and unease.
Velvet & Beaded Collages.
These are reliquary-type pieces. They have an intimate scale yet an eerie presence. They are experiments using textures and decoration. The interaction between the photographs and fabric gives a sense of the physicality of the work. Stitching is an integral part of the construction but it is barely noticeable, blending into the designs, so as not to compete with the visual impact of the imagery.
The Red Consuelas and Nine Noble Dames have a textured three dimensional form. They explore the juxtaposition of different fabrics and textures: velvet, organza and beads suggesting the illusion of opulence and riches.
Nine Noble Dames
Images of women have been selected from different film scenes and grouped together in nine stark, cartoon-like portraits using pen and ink. The women's gazes look straight at the viewer or down or to the left or right, frowning or unsmiling giving the portraits a shifty, uneasy mood.
The Red Consuelas
Portraits have been veiled in shades of red organza selected to mimic the wedding veil. The Consuelas, meaning consolations, are bridal portraits. The red veils suggest sinister or uneasy connotations contrasted to the supposed purity of a bride: blood, fire, passion, danger, Mexican Bordellos, Spanish conquistadors. The veils give the portraits an air of mystery.
Careful I, II &III and You Can't hide.
Images of a woman depicted in different but similar settings placed in a grid arrangement. They suggest contact strips used in photography or a film storyboard although the images do not follow a true sequence. The viewer is offered partial glimpses, freeze frames of ‘the action’. As the figure looks out, peering round a door or from the corner of the segmented space she is being ‘careful’ in the hope of not being ‘caught’ or discovered. The pieces explore the juxtaposition of images with very graphic qualities against different shades of background colour which disrupt their viewing. By dividing the rectangular picture into four smaller pictures this creates a sense of space diminishing, becoming smaller and more claustrophobic.
Downward |
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The Look |
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First Separation |
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Beaded Collage I |
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Velvet Collage III |
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Velvet Collage IV |
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Velvet Collage V |
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Beaded Collage II |
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Beaded Collage III |
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Nine Noble Dames |
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The Red Consuelas |
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Careful l |
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Careful lI |
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Careful lII |
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You Can't Hide |
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