Macy Biss - BA (Hons) Fine Art
In Which the Artist Keeps Painting in Mind
Standing in the corridor between painted logic and tangible reality, Macy Biss’ series of works ‘In Which the Artist Keeps Painting in Mind’ pits paint and sculpture against each other to explore the exchange between structure and substance.
Part laborious cocoon-maker, Biss marries the painting and its frame (cage, stage, pedestal, shell) through conditions of control and deception. Another part understands how to play, antagonising the medium and activating the power of cross-contamination.
These two distinct modes work together to bring forth misgivings that stimulate the collective imagination: the animal and indiscriminate, spitting, lunging and scratching, are swaddled and attended to.
As per the terms of expansion, raw material is brought forth from the shadows, airing out painting’s dirty laundry as an act of thoughtful decoration. The un-painted is processed on the same terms; where things appear incidental, careful consideration is layered like paint.
No hierarchy of material is established, instead, the artist places emphasis on tactility – a universal language and the great equaliser; those seeking objective pleasures and the self-identified, extra-perceptual are all invited to sit in the front row.
‘In Which the Artist Keeps Painting In Mind’ is both self-referential and autobiographical. The works are contextualised by the medium itself and sucked from the artist’s own thumb; a series of objects that reflect a personal relationship with painting through a spectrum of withdrawal and devotion.
