HAZEL LOPATKIN

I am a multi media artist, creating work relating to loss, not a tangible absence but a loss that cannot be held or measured. My concepts deal with fear of forgetting, the spaces between reality, transferred memories and the line between which truth and fantasy become blurred. I often work with paint, collage, found objects and with an alter ego, Kalinka Kuperchick. 

I am regularly found at auctions and have a fascination with used, precious objects and the idea of personal trace on physical items. The foundation of a person’s life, their significant and insignificant moments are absent and I attempt to replace them, through painting microscopic trace, reconstructing missing items and working from these once treasured objects. 

I am inspired by the home of my late grandfather, an antique dealer, where I developed a curiosity for these once loved items and began to search for a narrative. Looking through boxes of objects, letters and photographs brought at auctions, I became aware of the simplification of a person when they are summed up in terms of inanimate objects. I am fascinated by the idea of collecting and collections and the meaning and purpose it gives to an existence.

I live and work in London and am an experienced Artist - Teacher. I studied Graphic Design and Illustration at Middlesex University and worked as an illustrator and as a commercial interior designer until completing a PGCE at Brighton University and worked in an East London secondary school for over 20 years. I completed an MA in Education and Contemporary Artist Practice at Goldsmiths University in 2009 where I developed my identity as an artist - teacher and now embed my contemporary art practice in the curriculum I teach.

I now wish to find opportunities to exhibit my current work and seek out residencies to create site specific work that reacts to a space and the collections within.