Georgia Laurie McFee
No where to be and all day to get there.
This series of works dwells in the solo effort of navigating the world in a time of unprecedented isolation. At once reminiscent of both a dystopia and a dreamscape, they take the viewer on a serene journey through the feeling of isolation. By turns contemplative and playful, the works are an imagined vision of our current world. The women portrayed stand strong, traversing the chaos suggested by the barren landscape.
Though isolation has forced us to beat a path through rugged terrain, it is also a way for us to better know ourselves and find richness in solitude. We can shape our sense of grief and loss by expressing contrasting states of being; stillness and movement, grace and strength, struggle and acceptance. The situation caused by COVID-19 has encouraged resilience in my practice, directing my gaze inward and to the women around me. I show sophistication and delicacy in the female form whilst also conveying a sense of vulnerability and determination.
My process started by staging a photoshoot. The resulting images were then dissembled through collage to create multiple perspectives within the one composition. When I found a balance between the found, cut and created elements in the image, I planned the painting by following the collage, building up the density of colour slowly through successive glazes in oil. During lockdown I immersed myself completely in each stage of this process, painting every day as a way of navigating this strange new experience of time.
Breath, 2020
Oil on canvas
810mm x 810mm
Where Will We Go, 2020
Oil on canvas
1010mm x 960mm
Wanderer, 2020
Oil on canvas
710mm x 910mm
Into The Silence, 2020
Oil on canvas
810mm x 810mm
Artist in studio, 2020
Digital photograph