ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Gillian Holding

A fleeting sense of dissonance.
 A barely perceptible glimpse of the familiar out of context.
 A suggestion of something or somebody displaced or dislocated from ‘normality’. The crossing of boundaries, both of place and mind.

Assumptions falter or flounder. Fresh perspectives emerge, together with new possibilities of seeing and experiencing the nature of ‘reality’.

The resulting work by Gillian Holding is frequently figurative, allegorical and narrative. Inevitably, her initial expression of content assumes a life of its own, and through the inherent ambiguity of the imagery, is further transformed and developed in the light of the experience and context of the viewer.

The two-dimensional work is often finished with a highly reflective surface. Originally explored and developed as an aesthetic solution to the challenge of presenting digital painting with the saturated depth of colour of a computer screen or projection, it has also become a means of technically holding together a variety of delicate and mixed media materials. But most significantly, it plays an important conceptual role in her practice.

At one level, it references the digital world in which we live, where screens on televisions, computers, and any manner of electrical devices glow all around us. However, the surface reflectiveness compels us to move around to get the best vantage point from which to view, to avoid the glare of the room lighting, and to see the work in its entirety; just as we cannot perceive reality in real life without attempting to see all sides, and shifting our perspective. Our own shadows and reflections (and those of the people standing around us) are always present, integrating us and making us complicit in our own viewing of, and reflections on, the piece. Ironically, in this age of proliferation of the digital image, her work - even the digitally generated work - cannot be photographed or reproduced satisfactorily.

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