Mirror Image # 10

Part of a body of work which explores symbolic attributes of mirrors, plays with their definition and questions what they reflect. This painting references the small, elaborate mirrors seen in religious buildings in Spain. It touches on their symbolism and what they might reflect. The colours are taken from iconic images of the Virgin and evoke rich fabrics, precious metals and stones but these elements are blended with explorations of more worldly aesthetics so borrow from both Kahlo and Zurbaran. The systems of process, colour progression and grouping which govern the development of the painting ensure subtle asymmetries and colour combinations and thereby celebrate the particularity of painting in an era of technical imaging. The aesthetic qualities of the work are partly dependant on the very materiality of paint and its application. The flat areas in the paintings is applied in acrylic paint while the rest of the canvas is worked using a wet-into-wet oil painting process. This painting questions what intensity of effect might qualify as a reflection. The painting is very different in different lighting condition.