CuratorSpace Artist Bursary #21: Jo Liddle

Jo Liddle's practice is based on personal narrative and history, loss, and memory; exploring ideas of time passing and the trace, if any, that we leave behind. She often uses oil paint, but sometimes digital images, to build up a layered surface; removing and rubbing back to reveal a lost memory and creating a tension between the seen and the unseen, or almost seen.

"Experiences and memories are layered and lost over time; fleeting and difficult to grasp. I try to recreate a sense of lost or fading memories through the use of various materials. I have a series I want to explore in paint, nominally entitled 'The Watcher', based on a short video I made previously, with layered images of memories from childhood over a background figure. I want the paintings to be larger than life, to evoke a feeling in the viewer of being part of the scene and being overwhelmed.

This idea is based on an experience I had after my son died, when I was sitting in his room and felt a sense of being in a trance-like state. I observed a series of flashing images of his life, from a baby to adulthood and back before I was able to be fully conscious again. Since then, over time I have been working through a lot of memories of my own life in painting, always with the feeling of being an observer."

The video is available to view on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOgjrtlYqiU

Find out more about how to apply for the CuratorSpace Artist Bursary by visiting https://bursary.curatorspace.com.

 

More news