Pirjetta Plucinska
Maalauksia
LAYERS
18.9.-4.10.2009
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Layers.
We all have many Layers, faces which we show to our loved ones, faces which we keep for ourselves.
In public we show ourselves in whatever way is best for our situation. In private we have thoughts and desires that make us afraid of ourselves. The truth, our truth, lies somewhere between these two extremes.
This exhibition seeks to challenge the viewer to examine his own balanced self, and his relationship between the public and private layers.
Why are we so affected by the laws of civilization, by the standards of others? How much of ourselves do we lose in allowing these things to mould us? Why are we so scared of our base instincts, our animalistic core, that we lie even to ourselves to hide it?
My artwork operates from a number of perspectives.
Firstly, I want to explore how much of our lives and our mind is restrained by our own view of the world, its perceived expectations on us, and our position within our personal environment. I want to challenge the viewer to ask himself how deep these effects penetrate within us. How many layers of our mind are not really ours at all? Some of my paintings can be described as dark. I believe that to be a fair reflection, of both the direction of a world beyond our control, and the truth of the layers that we may never show to anyone during our whole lifetime.
Secondly, I am fascinated by the bond between our physical and our mental self. We have all thought about how our outermost physical layer affects how we interact with the world and how the world then interacts with us. This relationship, together with a natural artists interest in the physical form, often shows itself in my works. I use the muscle and skeletal layers of animals and humans to challenge our opinion of the people we see and the subconscious decisions we make about people before we know anything about them.
Finally, I try to mirror the subject matter in the way that I paint. Painting is all about layers too, about interaction between the fore and the background. Most of my paintings have very bold, plain backgrounds. The challenge comes in drawing the focus either into the foreground by using bright colours and distinct shapes which draw the eye, or alternatively using dark, delicate outlines to sink the theme backwards and blurring the boundaries between foreground and background. These methods could be likened to the sides of our character which we try to draw to the front and advertise, as well as the aspects of our psyche which we try to restrain and hold back out of the view of others.
Do not think of my art as either light or dark, happy or sad or any other simple labels that we like to put on things. Try to think of them as a mirror, as a sign of how you feel about your own layers. After all, art should not tell you about the artist; it should tell you about yourself.
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