The Lovers Triptych
The delicacy and destruction of closeness. The fine line between love and resent. Are these images a study of closeness or a study of distance? These notions are evocative of the current pandemic, but also how I perceive true depictions of intimacies to be. The scenes I envision are tense, intimate, dramatic and theatricality constructed, but juxtaposed with an ambiguous, yet identifiable, domestic interior allows you to inhabit its space. I am aware of the viewer in my work, as are the images themselves; there is a functionality to them, to be looked at and consumed and I like that. The images I create are entirely dependent on the two figures; I find having multiple figures occupying the space far more interesting and loud with narrative, than I do with an isolated figure. These are paintings of people, but they are not portraits.
The Lovers Triptych is a series of three paintings that explore the transitional stages of intimate relationships within the domestic setting. They are an exploration into contemporary depictions of Venus and Mars, inspired by Sandro Botticelli’s 1483 panel painting ‘Mars and Venus’. Each painting has a separate and contained narrative, as well as bearing a relationship as a triptych and timeline of how relationships mature and change. Are these a study of closeness or distance?