‘Twenty-seven’, 2019, oil on canvas, 160 x 130 cm
STATEMENT:
I paint those I love, or have loved. Intimate moments are often stacked upon one another, leaving hints of previous decisions visible on the final surface. This technique is called pentimento. It seems appropriate to use this method because what interests me most is the ephemeral nature of memory. These personal figures, although drawn from very specific characters, appear faded and at peril of disappearing entirely. I try to keep them genderless and ageless too, so the overall image is ubiquitous and the emotion I have put into the work is open for others to see and feel. The landscapes in which my figures reside are half remembered, half invented spaces. I try to create an embodiment of the various countries I am from: England, Switzerland and China. This fiery, mountainous setting holds reoccurring motifs; namely three specific mountains that face the valley the Swiss side of my family are from. This motif represents a constant in my life. As introspective as this sounds, the lived experiences I am dealing with are universal. We all have to grow up at some point and this is when the feeling of nostalgia is first manifested. In Welsh there is a word called hiraeth, which does not directly translate into English but it is the yearning or homesickness for a person or place that does not exist anymore or may never have existed. My paintings hold a certain amount of hiraeth; as they look to the past but often finish by describing something that has never actually happened.
Antonia Showering (born 1991, London), lives and works in London. She graduated with a MFA from the Slade School of Art in 2018 and a BA (Hons) from City and Guilds of London Art School in 2016. Selected exhibitions in London include Out of This World at Stephen Friedman Gallery (2019), Bloomberg New Contemporaries in South London Gallery (2018), In The Company Of at TJ Boulting (2018), The present is already gone at Chalton Gallery in (2018), Mark Shand’s Adventures and Curiosities at Hauser and Wirth (2018), Great Women Artists at Mother (2017). She has also shown in various other countries including V1 Gallery in Copenhagen (2018) and a two person show with Baert Gallery in Los Angeles (2018). Residencies include The Great Women Artists Residency at Palazzo Monti in Italy and is the 2019 recipient for the Bloomberg New Contemporaries SPACE studio bursary.