Amanda Barrington-Evans

 

Painter, Photographer, Printmaker

Bournemouth
Dorset
United Kingdom

I am an abstract painter and enjoy the reactions to my style of work; the assumption that painting abstracts is easy and free, when my painting process is fairly complex and very considered. I like the fact that abstract paintings can mean nothing and something at the same time. They are totally beholden to the viewer and their perception of what they might be, they can be beautiful and meaningless or deep and profound. My process started with the exploration of material, pushing the boundaries of its use to see what it can withstand. Mark making was originally almost withdrawn and the paint allowed the freedom to work for itself. Colours were allowed to mix and reform on the surface with little or no direct intervention. These images worked on an element of chance to create beauty but I wanted more. Thus at present my work is going through an evolutionary stage as I become absorbed by the suggestiveness of music whilst painting. The elements of this come through in my work by influencing colours, shapes and mark making within the layers of paint. The marks are worked and re-worked whilst wet, then later layers when dry to create bright lively rhythmic images that please the eye. My object is to make things of beauty with a complex surface that can be explored, or just gazed at soaking up its simplistic values of attractiveness. My paintings are built up with a background colour of 6 or more layers so as to give intensity to that colour and reduce the presence of brush marks, which gives a depth and buzz to the surface. I then mask off a section to make the initial painted area, this adds a voyeuristic element to the painting as it creates a window on the surface to view the painting through. This part is where the mark making is done to create movement and life. The colours used here are in direct conflict with the background colour to produce confusion to the eye. Subsequent layers are then worked into the painting again carefully using the colours to add more depth. Lastly an echo of a movement in the painting is created with one of the contrasting colours, this crosses the boundaries of the window and draws the inside out and the outside in making for more visual trickery. Colour is a major part of my work; I exploit its vibrancy and contrast to the full. Texture is also a big part of my work; this is used to give depth and movement to the painting. The marks dance and intertwine on the surface leading the eye around in a sensuous manor. The colours are hot, vibrant, pulsating and dangerous. My work is focused on my emotions at the particular time of creation, the effects of music and its pleasure to the ear is then translated into the pleasure of the eye. Every painting I make I do with the express intention of pleasing the viewer, beautiful things to be admired and desired in some way. I want others to be drawn in by my work, to want to touch, caress and desire my work, to revel in its beauty and vibrancy, to contemplate its worth and fall in love with it. I use acrylic, as I am too impatient for oil to dry and much prefer to use expensive high-pigmented paints so as to increase the intensity of colours when dry. Mediums are used to add definition with gloss and texture also to extend the pigmentation of more fluid mixes. On occasion I mix bronzing powders into mediums to create metallic paints that add a touch of rich texture and lustre to a painting. I choose to use these materials for their intensity, depth and lasting colour as this enhances the reasoning behind my paintings.