Matilde Roque
BA (Hons) Fine Art
In my paintings I give prominence to interactions. The way someone’s body looks sculpted against sand or meshed with ragged vs smooth surfaces of river-side rocks. The way somebody’s face looks up to another in an embrace, or down in concentration, or how their head leans on another’s in rest.
Our bodies, brains, voices, souls, personalities, egos, idiosyncrasies, routines, and quirks are in constant tension with each other, and in dialogue with others’, as well as with our activity and environment.
Through considered compositions I arrange people in space. People sit, engaged in still activity or simply gazing, not operating anything, waiting for the next decision to be made.
Starting with collected photographs I take of people, spaces, and objects, I create atmospheric paintings which evoke individual and collective experiences, and reflect my view of these spaces, as well as a considered journey of painting techniques and processes. Through painting, I make a new image where moments, activities and interactions are reiterated, translated, and therefore highlighted.
Repetition evokes indecision and distraction, but also reinforcement and consolidation. Through subtle repetition the thing represented is reinforced for the viewer, with gradually adjusted perspective.
