Melissa Hartley – Nocturnal Heartstrings
Hosted By 19 Karen
November 26th, 2016 - January 14th, 2017
Solo Show
ARTIST STATEMENT:
This new series “Nocturnal Heartstrings” symbolises emotion and loss and the ritual that the gifting of flowers plays in our lives. It alludes to life and death, with a beautiful kind of sadness.
There is a sense of melancholy hidden behind their floral colour palette and characters. Faces are encased by flower arrangements, the petals mimicking the soft shades of the characters’ skin, or roses dripping with emotional tears.
The isolating effect of deep black seems to heighten the vulnerability and seeming desire to place trust in the viewer. Concerned with its depiction of space, seeking a particular sense of void that seems to arise only in the nighttime, the black depth adds to the dream-like quality. Things start to manifest in the dark, our loves, our fears. This chiaroscuro effect is used for the sake of drama and the emotional impact it implies. Hauntingly beautiful, they contemplate space, time and the fragility of the human condition.