Artist Statement
The Two Hearts series delves into the intimate embrace of human figures, serving as the central theme. These figures intertwine in moments of embrace, dance, or repose, each rendered in a myriad of colours to convey their emotional and psychological depths. My aim was to capture the essence of togetherness through bodily gestures, conveying both obvious human states and enigmatic, interpretative nuances.
To achieve this intention, I employed a transformative decalcomania process. Originating from the Surrealist movements of the 1930’s, decalcomania utilizes automatic effects to manifest “unconscious’ compositions, eschewing predefined shapes. In this collection of paintings, I adapted this technique by applying thick oil paint with a palette knife onto unstretched canvas, creating the outlines of two figures. Subsequently, I layered an identically sized canvas atop the painted surface, pressing both together and carefully controlling their separation. This process bears semblance to mono-printing, albeit with the addition of thick paint. Unlike traditional decalcomania, where forms and colour emerge without prior planning, here, the figures and hues are preconceived. However, upon lifting the top layer of canvas, the amalgamation of figure shapes and colours results in surprising and spontaneous automatic effects.