Kira Holmes - BA (Hons) Fine Art
Harnessing the elasticity of painting, my practice explores an expanded notion of the medium. The work aligns with painting’s flatness, hosting a two-dimensionality that belongs to the wall. Altered stretcher frames nod to the historical privilege accorded to painting, their consistent surfaces conforming with the potential of the picture plane. Stretched fabrics act as a ground and remain congruous with the history of the canvas. The wooden frame functions as a support, opening an inhabited space between painting and sculpture, conforming to both and neither.
The material is reduced to its being-ness, the principle of the fabric prior to construction. The handling of the textile accords it the same non-functionality as when I found it. It is grasped, elongated, hauled and tightened. The varied translucencies of these surfaces agitate each other in their layered positions. Pinks turn to gold; reds turn to mud in an exchange of texture, colour, shadow, and light. Clean lines adrift the surface, met with a muted anticipation of what is beneath, flirting with awkwardness. However, what hides under the surface is just a wooden frame. No frills, it is constructed to be concealed.
