Daniella Norton
www.daniellanorton.work
@daniellacnorton
Statement:
I’ve been working on a series of paintings that feature the sculptor Brancusi, his studio and his dog. I began this series after visiting the studio in Paris having made some drawings. Having read biographies and looked at countless photos I imagine a showmanship about Brancusi, and for me he embodies the artist as mythic, alchemist, shaman, fraud, labourer - all of what interests me about artists. His dog is a sort of witches cat (familiar?) for me, which makes him part witch/magician/fraud too. The studio space is important too - his studio being such a fascinating theatrical place in my mind, relating to my interest in spaces in the paintings and physical spaces. The theme Nothing has changed everything has changed Brings to mind this unconscious state of being that interests me, as artists we are lucky in that we have a sort of place to inhabit which is a bit removed from the everyday where we have to function and be present.This is the part I am interested in, where images and words are chewed over. The ‘nothing has changed everything has changed’ evokes that sense of trying to keep up with the constant barrage of information and at the same time knowingly retreating from it.
The painting (Tree Spirit) is an extension of this interest in space, physical, metaphorical and psychological. I started the painting in lockdown, making a few versions of the end of a log from deep in the woods near my home. A fuzzy hazy time when I found walking in the woods an essential way to cope with isolation and claustrophobia. The woods felt magical and safe, I felt accompanied while alone, my confused mumblings somehow heard by unseen ears. I have been reworking it, feeling a deep connection with the subject and the painting itself.
www.daniellanorton.work
@daniellacnorton
Statement:
I’ve been working on a series of paintings that feature the sculptor Brancusi, his studio and his dog. I began this series after visiting the studio in Paris having made some drawings. Having read biographies and looked at countless photos I imagine a showmanship about Brancusi, and for me he embodies the artist as mythic, alchemist, shaman, fraud, labourer - all of what interests me about artists. His dog is a sort of witches cat (familiar?) for me, which makes him part witch/magician/fraud too. The studio space is important too - his studio being such a fascinating theatrical place in my mind, relating to my interest in spaces in the paintings and physical spaces. The theme Nothing has changed everything has changed Brings to mind this unconscious state of being that interests me, as artists we are lucky in that we have a sort of place to inhabit which is a bit removed from the everyday where we have to function and be present.This is the part I am interested in, where images and words are chewed over. The ‘nothing has changed everything has changed’ evokes that sense of trying to keep up with the constant barrage of information and at the same time knowingly retreating from it.
The painting (Tree Spirit) is an extension of this interest in space, physical, metaphorical and psychological. I started the painting in lockdown, making a few versions of the end of a log from deep in the woods near my home. A fuzzy hazy time when I found walking in the woods an essential way to cope with isolation and claustrophobia. The woods felt magical and safe, I felt accompanied while alone, my confused mumblings somehow heard by unseen ears. I have been reworking it, feeling a deep connection with the subject and the painting itself.
Tree Spirit
Oil pigment and acrylic on canvas
Oil pigment and acrylic on canvas