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Sofa with Light Patterns, (2005) 71 x 61cm, acrylic on panel |
Katherine Lubar's work takes as its source material light patterns and shadows that fall onto man-made, built environments. A great deal of the imagery is taken from domestic settings. Light falls onto walls, tables, mirrors, TVs, etc and is refracted, causing shadows that, once abstracted, can be read in a myriad of ways. With the lamp paintings, the light sometimes comes from the lamp itself, the lamp acting as a metaphor for the absent human whose space it occupies. The shadows created by the lamps are sometimes skewed, often appearing very different from the shapes of the lamps themselves, reflecting how we are often very different from how we appear on the surface.
Taking the subject from domestic settings comments on the separation we experience inside our individual spaces, separated from each other to preserve the idea of our autonomy. This is amplified by the choice of technique – smooth, perfectly hand-applied paint and distinct taped-out sections – reflecting the almost machine-like perfection that we demand of ourselves as well as the isolation inherent in living in contemporary Western society. The stillness evoked by the subject matter can be seen as a comment on the captivity and paralysis contained within the spaces and objects that we own – that in fact, often own us.
Katherine Lubar grew up in Dallas, Texas and has been living in London since 1994, receiving a Post-Graduate Diploma from The City & Guilds of London Art School in 1999. She has taken part in a number of solo and group shows in the UK and internationally and her work is held in private and public collections.
For more information, http://www.katlubar.com/
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| Discontinuity (2007) 100 x 100 x 4.6 cm acrylic on panel |
