A N N E     L Y N C H

I am fascinated by knowing that our experiences comprise of a juxtaposition of things that have already happened to us (past) and the absorption of what we experience in the now (the present). Particularly my latest work completed after the first Covid lockdown has explored those ideas in a more playful manner. Usually there are a lot of different images going on within the work, some are parts of objects or people. It is like having a conversation with my ideas on the paper and the various images also are talking to each other within the work.

During the lockdown because of the Covid19 virus I did not find it easy to concentrate on producing work.I found separation from my family difficult to deal with and it is interesting that the work post lockdown has themes about fragmentation, memories and objects from my past travels. Time became very elastic sometimes stretching extremely long other times quick and days got tangled up.

Watercolour is a complex media and the challenge to sustain an integrity with the media has led me to explore the use of collage and scale. Scale gives the marks a more powerful resonance and creates more excitement with this unknown journey I embark on. I like to use collage when I feel that I have lost the luminosity of colour which comes by keeping the colour near to the surface of the paper, or when I feel the mark made is too weak.

I love the excitement of a large blank sheet of paper then I usually begin with some light pencil work because it guides me to what the story is going to be. Applying the colour then takes the story in many different directions. There will be moments when I feel lost and that is often the time where the work gets stronger because I have to rise to the challenge.. Collageing comes into play as I can over paint moments that need more direction. I also like using the written work as it creates a kind of tone that I like. Later I might add fragments of other images that were torn out of previous work because it continues the conversation within the work and pays homage to the idea of the past being incorporated within the new work.

Recently I watched a video of how Elizabeth Blackadder constructs her large flower paintings and allows them to start with one plant then adds others as she travels from one end of the paper to the other… For some reason I found it helped me find a way to interpret the many ideas that were churning around in my head and I gained the confidence to just start with something that interests me such as the sunflower and then let it grow slowly as other objects or memories attract me. I learnt to enjoy a more free thinking approach which I hope to develop. You can see this in my work titled Paintings during Covid

Landscape has always been a subject I enjoy and most of the paintings have been inspired by the wonderful trees on the West coast of France near St. George- de -Donne They are like dancers stretching across the sky in very comical movements.