Beschreibung:

Lena Brazin Summer, 2021 Gouache on Paper Signed verso 15 x 10cm (5¾ x 3¾ in.) Lena Brazin's figurative paintings embrace paradoxes. They explore the seen and the unseen, attempting to materialise immateriality, to reflect the fullness of human existence. Brazin's work starts simply. Depicting simple forms, drawing simple lines, projecting simple ideas, taking base inspiration by painting only what is there in front of her. Then she begins open it up, bringing in lived experiences, unbelievable coincidences, welcoming in the unseen. The unseen is the most prominent motif across Brazin's work, which she renders as an androgynous metaphysical presence that lures her paintings into the supernatural; through them, Brazin is urging us to look beyond what our eyes tell us, to think beyond material possessions and find something real within you. Brazin's process is instinctive, growing with the work, experimenting to create a pictorial harmony, to depict a whole life. This is achieved through a balance of iconography, material, and colour. The iconography in the paintings comes from Brazin pouring herself into the work, exaggerating objects from her past, present, memories and hopes. These are all placed alongside the unseen, as Brazin possesses the knowledge that the physical world and the spiritual world are inseparable, and so presents it this way. In her choice of materials, Brazin uses linen stretched over wooden bars, allowing her work to be vulnerable, hiding nothing and reflecting on the intangible nature of the physical world in contrast to the ethereal world that takes place on the linen. Brazin's frequent use of vibrant colours forces an immediate impression on the audience, rooting them in the moment, potentially confused and lost, attempting to make sense of the image before them. The paintings are always freaky, but they never feel incomplete, rushed, or lacking. They work because Brazin has poured everything into their construction, so that the disparate and apparently random visuals that surround her portraits are always plucked from somewhere, some feeling, vision, or photograph, they are whole. Across Brazin's career, every painting simmers with energy. From portraits of friends to isolated cottages, each work is imbued with thought, whether containing a celebration of the now or a yearning for home. Brazin knows that without the right imagery, the effect would be inadequate, so she layers and textures her work, guided by the unseen, creating paintings that brim with the varied vitality of life. The work represents an essential way of understanding the contemporary self, full of paradoxes. Education: Turps Art School, Painting Studio Programme, 2019 Graduate Exhibitions/Awards: 2021 Coincidental Encounters / Four You Gallery, Dubai, UAE (SOLO, online) 2021 Midseason Mermaid's Dreams / Peirao Projects, Athens, GR (SOLO) 2020 The Autumn Auction 2020 / The Auction Collective, London, UK 2020 RA Summer/Winter Show 2020, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK 2020 Ancient Deities / Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh, UK 2020 We could put on our lipstick / C&C Gallery, online exhibition, UK 2020 FBA Futures 2020 / Mall Galleries, London, UK 2020 Exceptional - Graduate Art Award / Collyer Bristow Gallery, London, UK 2019 Time flies like the wind, Fruit flies like bananas / Newington Gallery, London, UK 2019 Turps painters 2019 / Turps Gallery, London, UK 2019 We can only have fun on certain days / Warbling collective, London, UK 2019 Where we once were someone / YNGSPC, online exhibition 2018 Bow Open Show / Nunnery gallery, London, UK 2018 Artist of the day / Flowers gallery, London, UK 2018 SET 24 / Newington Gallery, London, UK 2016 Crystallized / Wall mural painting, Santozeum, Santorini, GR 2016 The shag / The Library Club, London, UK COMPETITIONS and AWARDS 2020 ""Jackson's Painting Prize 2020"", London, UK (Shortlisted) 2020 ""FBA Futures 2020"" Mall Galleries, London, UK (Shortlisted) 2019 ""Exceptional"" The Collyer Bristow Gra