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Odette England
'Birthmarks'
The binding thematic spine of my artistic practice is memory: its function, its irregularity, and its ability to be simultaneously abstract, minimal and incomplete.
In Birthmarks, I explore these notions alongside the nature of photography itself, where abstraction – often thought of as photography’s nemesis – is the starting point.
Birthmarks themselves are abstract markings on the skin that may be permanent or fade over time. The same can be said of photographs and memory.
To bring these elements together, I engage with space, dimension and scale. The creation of each ‘birthmark’ is a meticulous and precise decision-making process that references painting and drawing. I take family snapshots and expose only small fragments to show something new – a significant form, where the ‘negative space’ enjoys equal respect.
My aim is to test how memory is presented and disseminated by putting emphasis on asymmetry, selection and placement. The works also reference how humans relate to shape, and how shapes themselves relate to one another.
Odette is an English/Australian photographer and writer living and working in London. She is a recent photography graduate of City of Westminster College and has exhibited in galleries in Europe and the US, most recently at the Margate Rocks festival in Kent, the Mirror for the 21st Century exhibition in New Orleans and at the Rhonda Schaller Studio, New York. She has also been published in Ag magazine (Spring 2008, Number 51) and will be undertaking sponsored artist residencies this year in Hungary, Greece and Spain. Her works have also been chosen to be in the 'New Wave' exhibition at Bute Space Gallery, Cardiff, celebrating new breakthrough artists.
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+44 (0) 789 458 4245
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www.odetteengland.com |