IRENE UHLEMANN - VISUAL ARTIST
"a picture is a poem without words" - Horace
ARTIST STATEMENT
Primarily a painter I also make artist books. My work is inspired by personal experience and changes in response to the world around me.
The painting process is dissimilar to making artist books and requires a different mindset. When painting, I work directly onto the surface and love the immediacy of drawing media and the loose, gestural marks achieved with oil paint. My recent work includes text and asemic writing incised into the surface. This lends itself to an abstract, intuitive way to convey writerly gestures without words.
Keeping a notebook is integral for both processes; it is where I think with text/image. A new body of work begins with a new notebook, annotating and recording ideas. For both, the elements of line, shape, colour and texture combine to make my images.
Primarily a painter I also make artist books. My work is inspired by personal experience and changes in response to the world around me.
The painting process is dissimilar to making artist books and requires a different mindset. When painting, I work directly onto the surface and love the immediacy of drawing media and the loose, gestural marks achieved with oil paint. My recent work includes text and asemic writing incised into the surface. This lends itself to an abstract, intuitive way to convey writerly gestures without words.
Keeping a notebook is integral for both processes; it is where I think with text/image. A new body of work begins with a new notebook, annotating and recording ideas. For both, the elements of line, shape, colour and texture combine to make my images.
(below) details from painting "Portal into Reality" oil paint/cold wax and asemic writing incised into the surface. 2022 102 cm x 70 cm