Rachel Clancy - MFA Painting
Light, space, and surface serve as a synergy to create a convincing, recognisable pictorial space. This is slightly distorted by the positioning and relationship between carefully placed elements within the scenes that nod to themes of artifice, trickery and illusion. Earlier works focus on these themes through intimate relationships between the figure and mundane objects, whereas later works have evolved into exploring these ideas though a wider lens, depicting domestic spaces with multiple objects to disguise meaning through slightly unrealistic situations.
Addressing themes of trickery contextually through the assembling of cropped, mysterious compositions, I am also interested technically in how the act of paining mimics the deceptive nature of a magic trick. This comes from a desire to create a harmony and balance between my technical concerns and content. This is explored through a slow, meticulous act of painting, where each layer is slightly hidden by the one above, hiding and revealing clues within the painting. The layering of thin glazes acts as an illusion, creating depth and luminosity on a two-dimensional plane to deceive the viewer.
The paintings have a mystic, curious atmosphere as they float between realism and surrealism, and there is an element of time that is complex to place. I find myself drawn to architecture and objects of artifice, often creating a mystery of time, and a weight of history within the works. A strong interest in 16th Century Dutch Still Life paintings is prevalent in the paintings due to the articulation of light and shadow, and the consideration to depicting life-like surfaces using a range of different techniques and mediums.
The paintings encourage a psychological encounter as the spaces hold the ghostly presence of a figure and evoke memory through recognisable elements, whilst in turn the viewer ‘fills in’ the space beyond the frame through their own experiences.
