Forces of the Small
Forces of The Small
The miniature project was an exciting developmental point for my practice. It has had quite an impact on how I’m currently painting.
To men, working small is an excellent metaphor for the current cost of living crisis. The more minor works also nod and reflect the history of women painters before me, often working at a kitchen table without the luxury of space, as seen by some of the work in ‘Action, Gesture, Paint’. This exhibition showed 150 abstract expressionist paintings by 80 women painters.
Although I am grateful for the space I have been given in, painting smaller is a practical choice as well as a stylistic one. My egg tempera paintings can be neatly wrapped and easily carried. For example, in the recent exhibition at the Bargehouse I placed all nine pictures into a cardboard box. This allowed me to easily transport the works to the university. Then once at the show, I can hang the pieces using a shatter hang method, creating an ever-expanding archive of women.
I am practically enjoying the process and historical referencing when painting smaller as I feel the experiences of the women before me are just as reverent. However, painting smaller also creates a fragmented effect: a reflection and development from my watercolour paintings, allowing me to add and take away and start new conversations and compositions with the placement of the women.
Without the forces of the small project, I wouldn’t have been pushed to work or consider working at such a small scale.