Clova Gillies

The artist - My practice explores ways in which I can envisage scenes that behold memories, and imagery that may trigger a moment of ‘Deja-vu’, through multiple series of paintings.  

 

I gather my visual research by discovering images through my constantly populating camera roll, consisting of pictures that catch my eye. This coincides with the influence of my vivid dreams, the role of the subconscious mind in dreams, the connection between Deja-vu and imagery, and my ancestry which I have rich evidential material of, and how these aspects can empower the intensity of a painting. Through strong realism and various sizes of works, I encapsulate themes which have inspired my artwork throughout my time at university, such as absence and presence, female history, and poetry.

 

Typically, whilst I create my artworks, I am often reflecting my thoughts and feelings towards a poem written by my granny. Presently, I connect to her poem ‘Looking Further’, I interpret this poem as a realisation of where I am in my life right now, about to graduate, and looking further into what I will do and where I will go next, existing in a state of excitement but also anticipation.

 

The work I create holds an overall sense of absent portraiture, with intense detail in the finish of the painting, yet pieces are missing, left for investigation and interpretation.

 

My exhibited painting looks at the feeling of holding my late grandmother's pearl necklace and plays with the connection between life and death via the hand, object, and shadow. The female presence is integral in my work, and this painting enhances the evidence of a woman’s touch, through presenting the transitivity of memories, both existing, and fading.