Gillian Naylor
I make mixed media paintings that tell a story. The main narrative running through the work is the human journey through life, how we relate to each other and the world around us. I am searching for an understanding; researching issues such as migration, tribal responses, death, fear, love and new beginnings all played out with the backdrop of the natural world. Patterns in my work are from nature; such as spirals, waves and feathers. These are combined with domestic patterns from wallpaper and fabric as a reference to the interconnectedness. Birds and animals appear alongside human figures or a combination of the two. After a period of research an image will come to mind; a visual answer to a quest for understanding.
I make the drawing with Indian ink. The splatter, smudge and run create new possibilities a space for play.
Lost details can be reinstated with acrylic, stained with pigment and layered with oil paint.
Scratching back through the layers with a collection of homemade tools and sticks my artefacts. The older, the more prized, seeming to hold onto the energy that flows through them.
From the subconscious mental process comes an intuitive response with the realisation of the image a new felt understanding.
Like the emotion captured in a piece of music or a poem I want my paintings to hold onto and convey their own stories that can be interpreted and added to by the viewer.