Graduate Show
Notes on Circa
Sarah Elton is a figurative painter studying contemporary portraiture at The Art Academy, London.
Her practice aims to convey appreciation of the home, memory and everyday life in line, pattern and deep colour.
She is interested in the role of personal taste as an expression of identity.
Sarah’s history degree and extensive experience in design and luxury goods directly influence her work.
“Circa”
Traces and artefacts of a childhood home
The intention of this series of paintings is to hold onto a time and place but also to create a feeling of memory.
In memory the normal hierarchy is disrupted; details of people and faces are lost, whilst random details such as a lamp or cup can remain. Some items are clear almost contemporary whilst others are fuzzy or float beneath the surface. Perspective is jumbled, the scale shifts and things don’t quite fit. Edges are unresolved and sometimes the outside world intrudes such as via a scrap of an advertisement or newspaper. As time passes details blur from specific to more general. The photograph both prompts and distorts having no respect for internal memory structure. Despite these conflicting forces this the traces fuse together to create a colourful authentic whole.
“In recalling memories… we are never real historians but always nearly poets.”
Gaston Bachelard
Commissions
Memory Painting - record and secure a time and place
Curated Interiors Painting - reflect a life through an interior with emphasis on significant items
Room and house contemporary portraits
sarah.elton@btinternet.com