''I could paint a picture called 'The Doe' ... I may also want to paint a picture, 'The Doe Feels'. How infinitely more subtle must the painters sensitivity in order to paint that.'' Franz Marc
Biography
Foundation - West Surrey College of Art and Design, 1985-1987
Degree in Fine Art, Reading University, 1987-1990
Post Graduate Study in Theatre Design, Motley Theatre Design Course
Whilst issues of injustice to people have always provided subject matter for the artist, few have looked at our interaction with the animal kingdom. In exploring the sometimes disturbing side of our relationship with other animals, my work seeks to portray a world not always at ease with its human neighbours. My inspiration, from things seen and found, mythology and song together with a deeply felt identification with other animals has lead to work which seeks to create a sense of the animal rather than a straightforward portrait. My work is sometimes deliberately challenging, disturbing.
Many of my pieces are deliberately beautiful to draw in the viewer and develop an empathy with the subject matter. Composition, light and tone are a priority using these sometimes to clarify, sometimes to deceive. The images can be taken at face value, or understood with supporting text. I work both from my own experience and personal responses as well as being influenced by current events.
In creating pieces about the horse I am seeking to find a distance from traditional representation and explore the subject in a dynamic way. By understanding both the horse within the history of art, where it re-occurs in every form and looking at the horse in modern life I am exploring ways of portraying the animal. Taking historical references and texts from the Classical Riding Masters; Xenophon, Gueriniere, Pluvinel and Newcastle, as well as using my own experiences in developing skill and feel with the horse I work to explain movement, power and beauty whilst retaining the development of line and tone. I work daily with a specific breed of horse, the Morgan, with which parallels have been drawn with the classic animal portrayed in sixteenth and seventeenth century portraits yet this is the true working class horse, bred from a log hauler in Vermont in the 18th Century.
Throughout my work using a predominantly black and white medium removes the prettiness and allows a more striking image, whilst the richness of the tone plays with the different qualities of light and dark. Reducing the subject in this way maintains its strength and adds to its power.
The Handsome Family
'I felt a dark eye turn its gaze upon me ... '
Please note all images are the copyright of Ann Hollaway.