First work completed in 2022!

                                             Everybody's Life - Fion Gunn, 2022 , acrylic, handmade papers, collage, 76x56cm 

This artwork is a homage to New York artist Louise Nevelson. I discovered her work during my foundation year at art college and it had a lasting impact on me.  Her process of using scrap materials and creating monumental architectural artworks has been a huge inspiration. I too work with recycled materials, the rejected flotsam and jetsam of others, the objects discarded and neglected which carry with them a complicated history, narratives that are not necessarily obvious. This painting collage features some aspects which are evident in Nevelson's work and integrates many of my own - there's a reference to the house I grew up in, furniture which has been a personal obsession and instead of the monolithic sculptural solidity of her work, mine is full of holes and windows!
The title for this work is taken from Nevelson’s own words ‘My life is like everybody's life' it is a feeling which I share. An artist's life is not a romantic one, we have the same challenges as everyone else in the world and disappointment is always snapping at our heels. Understanding this can help to make us better artists, help us to feel less like outsiders and enable us to welcome viewers into our world in a generous way.