Art has been a lifelong passion and I studied Fine Art to A Level. Since then I experimented with subject matter and styles and eventually developed a curiosity and passion for portraying the human figure. People are fascinating, with around 90% of interaction achieved through non verbal means. Body language therefore created a huge wealth of material to explore as an artist. Both the visual element of art and the visual aspect of body language ultimately aim to portray a message to the audience. The interpretation of this message will be different for every single witness. Body language is very often misread, much the same way that art is. Both are subjective mediums.
I am also a professional belly dancer. Dance is a beautiful medium through which a dancer can use their body to convey a message and various emotions. Dance enables the dancer to really interact with the music on another, deeper level, in a way that a listener cannot access. The dancer becomes the music, their body becomes the instrument. The different layers of music can all be brought to the forefront through the dancer, sometimes the more subtle streams can be given more importance through the dancer than in the music itself. The dancer as an instrument was a perfect element of the human figure and body language to explore and incorporate into my painting.
I began by exploring the various postures associated with dance, to portray the colour and vibrancy of the costumes and lights coupled with the excitement and adrenaline of being on stage, the movement of the human figure in contrast to the movement of the flowing outfits, the musicality and harmony of the drums and the beauty of the dancer physically, but also in the way they exhibit a complete passion for music and dance which flows right through them and conveys emotion in the audience.
Creating exact replicas of a scene was of little interest since a camera could do this for me, my work aims to convey movement so the audience can almost feel a part of the show, caught up personally in the energy of the scene. My work is greatly influenced by the vibrant colour used by the fauve artists and really tries to make use a variety of colours to build up a scene in layers of colour.
I hope you enjoy my work as much as I enjoy creating it.
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