Victoria Reichelt

Artist Statement

In order to investigate the relationship between painting and photography, I make paintings based on photographs of objects. These objects have in the past included tools, blankets and books, all banal, yet slightly obscure items sourced from thrift stores and markets. In these works, the act of collecting and photographing the objects are of as much importance as the final painting. They serve to investigate the painters’ engagement with the object and how the act of painting them, privileges these ordinary items. The books collected for the series of book paintings are particularly worn, their tattered jackets reflect their long years and multiple readings, and contrast the stark backgrounds in which they sit. These works are a paradox to paint, as once the books are an image on canvas they are shut forever and can never be read. In a painting they serve a very different purpose from their intended function – they are purely objects like any others, that have histories and narratives of their own, quite separate from the text inside them. Along with the book series, I am currently making paintings of antique cameras against stark white and black backgrounds that serve to again, explore the ongoing tension between painting and photography. I am painting cameras, which were formerly perceived as a threat to the medium of painting with the invention of photography. The cameras I use however, are all antiques and have themselves been made redundant, superseded by new technologies and relegated to the realm of beautiful collector’s items.

Web Site

http://www.victoriareichelt.com

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