Kevin Ledwith
474 -2014 (within studio space- group project)
In collaboration with IMMA, the project was based around ; Document.Work.Space and the main theme of 474.
IMMA allowing our course access to the donated Edward McGuire studio I based my work on this portrait painter.Counting 474 movements of hand on the page,I created this drawing in hommage to the artist
Mid-point rollover show for college.
My work focuses on people’s obsession with self-image and the perfection of facial features. These portraits reflect the insecurities that the subject has chosen to focus on. Through this reflection, the subject has been given the choice of how to distort this image which allows me as the artist not to overstep any moral boundaries, creating a fair reflection of character, true to life. Isolated figures held within the bare primed canvas allow for direct attention and identification with the subject, reflecting away from any narrative or story telling elements. The start of this series reflects back upon the study of Francis Bacon’s work and his use of the camera and paint. My hope for these works is to create an approach for portraits through oil painting that touch on the public perception of what a contemporary portrait is to display.
'Progression' - 2013 @The Drawing project, Dun Laoghaire,Dublin
The basis for my work is created by humanity’s greatest obsession, ourselves. We walk by and see so many different people each day and if we are only given a voice of a person or an object belonging to them, we will try to imagine and picture a figure in our minds. Through exploration in my work it has become clear to me that figuration alone is dominant throughout and it is a never ending source of visual information for myself. Studies of individuals through sittings, allows me to find my practice of oil painting constantly developing. These studies are not based on a complete need for perfect realism but I have learned that my work displays a kind of impression of the figure which is sat in front of me. This kind of impression is also gained from our modern approach to viewing people and their nature. People today seem to have an ever changing face or scenario, most notably found online and in “profiles”. Day to day, even hour by hour, what we see of a certain person can change instantly in front of us, giving the viewer a different impression. Talking to or contacting this impression, online or otherwise, can leave something to be desired but raise questions of who we are really seeing in front of us. Behind one face can lay another, a face only put on show at certain times to certain people. There is a certain multiplicity in today’s world when trying to view or learn from people.