This painting (mixed media on board) is by Karen Fleming, and is currently on show at the Gallery on the Corner (34 Northumberland Street). It has the intriguing title ‘Everyone Makes Bad Decisions’.
‘I am heavily influenced by domestic interiors from various decades,’ she writes, ‘particularly the wallpapers and textiles that were popular at the time.
‘A technique that I employ is to make detailed surfaces, then work into these in order to represent the layers of history attached to the subject, and the life that has occupied a space. Textures are built up using original Victorian-era wallpaper / textile printing blocks. Using authentic materials I am able to create a diverse range of interesting patterns when the paint has dried.’
Fleming says she’s drawn to the juxtaposition of contrasting textures, and is interested in objects’ decay and regeneration.
This reviewer loved the delicious thickening of paint at the centre of this work, and has made the good decision to reproduce the painting on a larger scale below so that you can enjoy it, too. AM
