Rosalynd Aranel Byass Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom
As a self-proclaimed modern surrealist, I create oil paintings that explore and analyse the elusive mental reality. I visualise my nuanced feelings to declutter and to further understand my own mind and what I am experiencing. Pain, dread, and anxiety are the most prominent in my most recent work. The female nude is a vessel for tortured emotions.
The passion the surrealists had for freeing the mind and imagination resonated when I discovered the movement as someone who has suffered from anxiety, depression, and OCD for almost my whole life. I translate my feelings and thoughts into narratives and imagery, similar to the work of Salvador Dali, Dorothea Tanning, and Frida Kahlo. The spectrum of the surrealists is vast, therefore I am passionate about the idea of individual surrealism. The female nude is always present in my work and used as a vessel for tortured emotions. It is a consistent image as I believe it shows power and vulnerability as well as holding implications of feminism and queerness. Currently, I am focussing on there being a more direct line between myself and the painting so that even if the feelings are nuanced and hard to describe, I am able to visualise them on the canvas. Therefore, there are often only one or two preliminary sketches, and I experiment further with the idea on the canvas itself. I paint with meticulous detail in order to sharpen the reflection of the mental landscape. Background, middle ground, and foreground are always considered in the composition as they help the narrative come across clearer. I also find it gives the imagery more importance by giving it physicality in the way reflections and shadows can. What our minds create and do is not something to be disregarded; it is part of our reality. My paintings embody this.
Artwork
The Abstract Concept of You, Oil on canvas, 2024, 600
National Treasure, Oil on canvas, 2023, £400
I Will Never Be Without You, Oil on canvas, 2021
The Body of Someone Who Was Hurt I, Oil on canvas, 2023, £100
The Body of Someone Who Was Hurt II, Oil on canvas, 2023, £50
AB AETERNO, Oil on canvas, 2023, £150
A version of me went with you, Oil on canvas, 2023, £150
The Prophecy, Oil on canvas, 2023
Let Me Leave This Place, Oil on canvas, 2022
The Lady Searching For Her Missing Right Arm I, Oil on canvas, 2022
The Lady Searching For Her Missing Right Arm II, Oil on canvas, 2022
The Soup of the Unconscious is Eaten by the Woman I Desire, Oil on canvas, 2022
This woman does not exist, Oil on canvas, 2021
Weird and Ashamed I, Oil on canvas, 2020, £80
Weird and Ashamed II, Oil on canvas, 2020, £80
Weird and Ashamed III, Oil on canvas, 2020, £80
Projects and exhibitions
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WHITE HOLE Exhibition13/02/2024 — 16/02/2024 Organised by the BFREAK PROJECT, a group of creatives of different disciplines came together to demonstrate the power of creativity. |
Ex-Libris Gallery, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne | Details |
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Album Cover for Mr B. The Gentleman Rhymer, "National Treasure"01/05/2023 — 08/09/2023 A commissioned piece for Mr. B. the Gentleman Rhymer's album, "National Treasure". It is a portrait of him with imagery inspired by the themes within the songs and his persona coming from his head and swirling around him. It is 51 x 51 cm and was £400. |
n/a | Details |
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Supporting Arts Exhibition | 202201/09/2022 — 30/09/2022 I exhibited my piece "The Soup of the Unconscious is Eaten by the Woman I Desire" as a part of the Supporting Arts "2022" exhibition, which was an annual exhibition created as a way to support artists through/after the pandemic. |
IG: supportingarts_ | Details |
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Fine Art BA HONS Year 3 Degree Show10/06/2022 — 15/06/2022 This was the final exhibition of my degree. I displayed various pieces from my portfolio together, the central piece being my self-portrait "The Soup of the Unconscious is Eaten by the Woman I Desire". For me, it represented how far I had come despite the struggle of the pandemic. |
Assembly House, Newcastle Upon Tyne | Details |
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Open Studios 12 | Fine Art Degree Show Year 209/07/2021 — 12/07/2021 The final exhibition of the second year of my Fine Art BA HONS degree. I exhibited my piece "This woman does not exist", which was my final piece of Year 2. |
IG: fineart_ncuc | Details |
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Baltic Open Submission 202119/05/2021 — 05/09/2021 Over 150 North East artists exhibited together as part of this exhibition. I submitted one of my older pieces "The Valley of the Untouchable Fantasies" (2020, Oil on canvas). |
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead | Details |
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New Myths | Fine Art Degree Exhibition Year 231/03/2021 — 10/04/2021 An online exhibition to show the work we had created so far in our second year. I exhibited "Weird and Ashamed I, II & III", a piece I made at the end of 2020. |
IG: fineart_ncuc | Details |
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Relations and Reflections | Fine Art Degree Year 225/03/2021 — 17/04/2021 Everyone from my fine art cohort created a piece under the theme of "Family", a theme poignant because of the pandemic. I created a piece about myself and my twin brother, "I Will Never Be Without You". |
vane.org.uk | Details |
Open Studios 11 | Fine Art Degree Year 101/12/2019 — 20/12/2019 An exhibition to display the work of myself and my peers that we had created in Year 1. |
Mandela Building, Rye Hill Campus, Newcastle College, Newcastle Upon Tyne | Details | |
UAL/Newcastle College Foundation Diploma in Art & Design Final Exhibition01/06/2019 — 15/06/2019 The final exhibition of my Foundation Degree in Art & Design. |
Mandela Building, Rye Hill Campus, Newcastle College, Newcastle Upon Tyne | Details | |
New Myths | Foundation Degree in Art & Design07/01/2019 — 14/01/2019 Exhibiting the work I created that year so far in my Foundation Degree in Art & Design. |
Assembly House, Newcastle Upon Tyne | Details |