Harriet Maxwell
(28 years old. Born in United Kingdom. Lives in: London)
Goldsmiths
My name is Harriet Maxwell, I am a 23 year-old textiles graduate from Goldsmiths University, London.
I am interested in portraiture and the figure. I use oil paint and embroidery to capture subtle, intimate details found on the surface of the skin. My work has recently become more focussed on stitch. Rather than simply focussing on the surface of the skin, I feel that stitch allows me to construct the flesh, building up thread to reference layers of skin, mapping out patterns and contours with the direction of the stitch.
|
|
|
Work of art I would like to make
As I have mentioned, I am interested in the human body and face. If I were to make a piece of work in response to the theme, 'the world in 25 years time', I would concentrate on what my world would look like in twenty five years time. I am interested in issues surrounding beauty and the abject, and the fine line between the two. In the western world today, we are obsessed with beauty, body image and staying youthful. Particularly in the fashion industry, where photographs are airbrushed to freeze an (unnatural) idea of youth in time. I like the idea of creating an artwork that reminds us of the cycle of life, of growth, of beauty, of decay, of death. Like a momento mori, perhaps.
It will be a continuation of the work I have been doing over the last few months. With the use of embroidery, I want to create portraits that focus on the subtle qualities of skin. Of ageing skin. Of sun spotted skin. Of crinkled skin. Embroidery enables me to create a dense, indulgent and tactile cloth that I believe not only refers to surface, but to the composition of the surface. The direction and density of the stitch contribute to a rippling effect, which produces a high relief surface, hinting at the rising and falling of breath, of subtle movement. Depending on the light, this can create an ever-changing portrait, light and shade emphasizing and diminishing details, creating alternative portrayals, just as in life.
I would like to compare natural ageing, to the ageing of those who have interfered with their bodies, who have had injections, operations, to follow this idea of eternal youth, and have started to age in a different way than they would have naturally. What will they look like in twenty five years? |
|
My Artworks (6)
Click on the images to enlarge
|
|
|
|
|
)
)
)
)
)
)
Become a member
Follow us on Google+
Follow us on Twitter