Emma Hartnup - Mixed Media
I believe that death, being distant from experience, creates an increasing curiosity in death, and in the artist's mind, a need for us to see it.Responses to death run a wide range, and I find it interesting that it can manipulate our senses in that we have some kind of special excitement at horror which repels and at the same time attracts us.
On the other hand it can be an emotive area which we would rather shy away from. I want mutilation and death to become acceptable in our society and for viewers to recognise the beauty and the natural presence of decay.
Traditionally the picture is considered pleasing but I aim to mix this idea with conventionally avoided subjects; by using mutilation and decomposition in an attempt to stress the vulnerability of the living form.
This idea has developed into a metaphor of the canvas as a skin and the stretcher as
the tool that inflicts the pain.
Cheek Cross Section
wax, oil, scrim on canvas 5"x5" (50 UKP unframed)
Decomposition
wax, oil, acrylic on canvas 15"x3" (60 UKP unframed)
Burnt Membrane I
wax, oil, latex, acrylic, nylon stretched on wooden frame 30"x30" (150 UKP )