Mirrored - Gillian Barkhurst

Gillian Barkhurst -

My body of work displays the reality of my emotions, experiences, and observations of the world through fantastical juxtapositions, strong colors, and symbolism. My primary mediums are gouache, oil paint, and linocut prints. My artwork employs strong contrast, often presenting one element beside it’s near opposite. For example, presenting the supernatural alongside the natural, the dead among the living or organic shapes and geometric patterns. I use strong colors, predominantly warm tones, and recurring shades that often appear in multiple works. Some of my favorite colors to work with are oranges, pinks, and reds which I balance with dark navies, blues, greys and greens. Artists that inspired my body of work include: Alphonse Mucha, Frida Kahlo, Claude Monet and Georgia O’Keeffe.

While there is no central guiding theme within my art there are several smaller themes that are prominent and recurring. The first is isolation, my figures are always either entirely alone or alone within a crowd of figures that are almost out of view or not quite human. For example, in Everything Has a Price and Fair Game the figure is guided or grabbed by hands that connect to figures the viewer can’t see. In Voyeur and A House on Fire a woman is surrounded by ghostly apparitions. This reflects a feeling of disconnectedness and isolation which has such a strong influence because I began my body of work in the beginning of the Pandemic. A second strong motif in my body of work is the presence of nature and the escapism it provides. Whether it’s ocean waves, like in Après moi, le déluge, a stormy mountainscape in There Will Come Soft Rains, wildflowers on a grassy knoll in Somewhere Else, or tropical foliage in Life in a Fishbowl. This theme comes from my interest in outdoor activities like hiking, backpacking and climbing which instilled in me a respect and fascination with nature. A final core theme is patriarchal expectations and how that complicates identity. Whether it’s a fear of leaving our societal niches as depicted in Life in a Fishbowl, subconscious self surveillance as represented in Voyeur, or those patriarchal expectations reaching out to grab you, in Fair Game. This theme comes from my own struggles with identity and negative experiences as a woman in a patriarchal society. While there is no overarching thematic idea for my body of work, all my work is encompassed by a variety of interwoven themes, concepts and motifs informed by my life and experiences.

The three mediums I employ in my body of work are Gouache, Linocut prints, and Oil painting. While Gouache is my primary medium, I’ve also included two prints and an oil painting. This is to show not only that I’ve grown within the medium of gouache, but also experimented and developed within other mediums. I included three mediums to create visual appeal and a sense of eclecticism through variety. I displayed my art in a gallery wall to contribute to an eclectic and maximalist feel. This sporadic style reflects my artistic process and idea development, which is never linear or clean. Just as my artistic process is nonlinear, so is my exhibition, the viewer should be drawn to whichever artworks they want without being confined to any linear order. Further, I grouped my pieces by color, arranging pieces with similar color schemes and tones next to each other to demonstrate the coherence and continuity of my body of work. Moreover, all the figures in my works are female, this serves an expressive purpose to me as the artist, but also establishes a relationship with the viewer. Although every figure differs in appearance, we share this familiarity which allows me to better identify with my art. This personification allows the viewer to make a human connection to themes or concepts that are often abstract. While my body of work is in no way intended only for women, often the themes associated with my art are especially understood by other women, thus justifying my inclusion of all female figures. All in all my work looks for the whimsey, or horror, in everyday life.

Everything Has a Price, gouache on watercolor paper, 28 cm by 38 cm

Art Nouveau, with it’s natural motifs and warm earthy tones, inspired the aesthetics of this piece. I was specifically inspired by Alphonse Mucha. Conceptually, this piece centers on financial stress. The child in my piece is being guided by a disembodied hand from a state of sheltered childhood bliss, surrounded by nature and toys where the burden of money is limited, to adulthood where the presence of money grows more and more pervasive.

Somewhere Else, oil paint on canvas, 60.96 cm by 60.96 cm

Inspired by Monet’s artwork, Woman With a Parasol--Madame Monet and Her Son I created this piece using a medium that was entirely new to me– oil. I want to evoke the sense of escapism that I feel when looking at a Monet painting of the French Countryside. The concept for this artwork first came to me in January after months of online schooling and burnout when my most fervent wish was to be somewhere else. To elicit this feeling I contrasted natural motifs with rigid technology.

Fair Game, gouache on watercolor, 35.6 cm by 55.88 cm

This piece relies on contrast. I contrast warm oranges, yellows, and tans on the primary figure with the cool-toned blues of supernatural disembodied hands and the motif of the eye. This contrast is intended to create a sense of unease. This piece is based on the harassment of women from a young age and the anxiety and paranoia it creates. The motif of the eye is evident in many of my works, however, it is most prominent, visually and conceptually, here.

Voyeur, linocut, 28 cm by 20 cm

As my first print, I had to learn how to effectively balance negative and positive space. As I primarily work with paint, there was a bit of a learning curve as far as how and where to include linework, texture and detail in my print. Moreover, this work features the motif of the eye, which appears frequently in my work, as well as a contrast between the natural and supernatural. All this is to convey the eerie sensation of never quite being alone that comes from the internalized male gaze.

A House on Fire, gouache on watercolor paper, 45.7 cm by 45.7 cm

A House on Fire is a piece about apathy. In this country, we are largely sheltered from the tragedies of the world around us, even when they’re right in front of us like water flooding to our doorstep. We are content to just keep living while the house is on fire around us. I wanted to depict how isolating this can be by presenting only one human figure, alone in a crowd of ghosts. I contrast the warm tones of the house’s exterior with cool tones of the interior and the background to represent this cognitive dissonance.

Après moi, le déluge, linocut print, 29 cm by 45.4 by cm

“Après moi, le déluge” is a french phrase that means, “After me, the flood” and is contemporarily associated with the shortsighted destruction of our planet for capital gain. This piece depicts the generation that has to live with the flood we leave behind us. It contrasts the fluid and natural against the rigid and man-made through linework. As my second print, I especially tried to challenge myself through this more complex and detailed linework.

Life in a Fishbowl, gouache on watercolor paper, 45.7 cm by 45.7 cm

My main focus for this piece was an effective use of color. I intentionally chose complementary colors such as red and green and yellows and blues. I was largely inspired by Frida Kahlo’s portraiture and their surrealist nature, which combines the familiarity of nature and her own likeness with the abject, disturbing or bizarre. This piece is symbolic of the danger of remaining within our own bubbles for too long. Without change or challenge, we end up just living life in a fishbowl.

There Will Come Soft Rains, gouache on watercolor paper, 55.88 cm by 35.56 cm

Inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe’s depictions of the Southwest, specifically her painting Ram’s Head with Hollyhock, I seek to show admiration for nature in this piece. As someone involved in many outdoor sports, I know, despite our own hubris, that nature, at any moment, can bear down and humble you. To quote the poem by Sara Teasdale which the title alludes to, should we all disappear Nature “when she woke at dawn, / would scarcely know that we are gone”.