To find her subjects, Kerry mines images and themes gleaned from a number of popular culture and classical sources. Circe, the sea nymph enchantress that makes a brief appearance in Homers Odyssey, stars in a modern novel by Madeline Miller. Miller explores themes of Mortality, Fragility, and Fulfilment within her novel - themes that Kerry believes becomes particularly relatable to us all as we reach middle-age, but themes that really should be ever present from puberty up! This playful painting is an exploration in tone and fantasy iconography to appeal to all those who love a little bit of magic - with the intention of maybe creating a much larger work of this image further down the track.
The canvas is covered in Japanese Rice Paper to give a lovely texture that is akin to the movement on the surface of water. And, as with most of Kerry's paintings, she has painted in layers. The background using action painting (expressionistic) techniques - pouring, dripping, splashing paint and involving my body in the painting process rather than just the paint brush. The figure was created using contemporary art pop art techniques and stencils, and a further layer of hand painting brought the foreground and background together. Kerry's palette is colourful and uses strong contrasts to capture an uplifted mood. Mostly consisting of complementary colours, Kerry focuses on using phthalo greens and variations of red and orange.
Professionally stretched, signed on the back, ready to hang and enjoy!
