Vanessa Maurice-Williams
Hove
I make installations that I view as three-dimensional paintings.
The magic and beauty of natural landscape is what feeds my imagination. I want to create works that discuss the frame, the stage, the portal, and push the viewer to unplug momentarily.
I make large-scale installations that are entrances or thresholds that distort the viewer’s awareness of space – some works are physically interactive, and others illusionary, much like a trompe l’oeil painting. I am interested in not only challenging the viewer’s physical pathway, but their cognitive and emotional responses by creating works that uphold a playful buoyancy, referencing my interest in Winnicott’s philosophy on play and my fascination in early 20th Century cartoon. The scale is of fundamental importance - immense and comical, the works loom above the viewer, fighting for their attention. This monumentality is juxtaposed by the choice of materials, which are ephemeral, such as industrial plastics. The sense of the monumental built from the throwaway, and the sheer playfulness of the pieces, relate to the transience of the theatre and hint at the notion of performance. My work is rooted in the history of painting and my three-dimensional approach contributes to current debates on the ‘extended field of painting’. I am a founding member of Artists’ Union England and I was the Treasurer from September 2013 - June 2016. My ambitions are to create more site dependent works, exploring the framework of the portal, possibly looking more into the realm of public art, and also doing more collaborations with other artists.
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