final show installations
For the final exhibition, I have been working with paintings in a site specific manner – situating them in certain locations throughout the building, in particular transitory, seemingly incidental and often overlooked spaces such as the stairwells and corridors.With these paintings, I have removed the need for a frame or stretcher, as the architecture acts as the underlying structure.
I am interested in the paintings having a delicate existence, relying on the spaces in which they are placed. All the works are acrylic on cling film. Cling film is an incredibly malleable material, lending itself to being folded and manipulated by my hands or by the harsh angles within the building. It is fragile and thin to the point where its materiality is intriguingly insubstantial. This ephemeral nature is something which I feel has been intrinsic to my work and practice. I am also really interested in drawing a viewers attention to this delicate physicality of the work.
There is an ambiguity with regards to whether my work informs the space, or whether the spaces inform my work. The architectural spaces give shape and structure to the work, and yet it is this presence of the paintings occupying the negative space which gives the space of these selected locations a specific existence.
More of my work is online at: www.maihawkins.com
