Artist Statement:

chriskearns – illudingimages

Chris Kearns has had a particularly varied career to date. After establishing herself in the competitive world of editorial illustration in the early 1990’s, she then spent over a decade working in advertising. It was during this period, producing commercial artwork for mass reproduction, that she became increasingly fascinated by the deconstruction of printed images into dots and pixels, by digital and screen technology.

When viewed with the naked eye the images read as continuous grades of colour and form, but this is an illusion. In reality they are each composed of tiny “bits” which have a beauty of their own when seen under magnification. “Once you know that there are two complimentary aesthetics which work independently on different scales of magnification, there are two ways to appreciate the image. The whole really is more than the sum of the parts.”

In the same way, Chris’s paintings blur the margin of scale between these two views of the image. At once the viewer is caught between two perspectives: one moment seeing only the particles, which create the illusion of a whole form, another moment recognising the elusive whole in its own right – the face of a man: a woman in celebration: a dolphin powering through the ocean. Chris has used a play-on-words to describe her paintings as “illuding” images. She has produced work for both private and corporate commissions.

“Chris’s work is full of paradox: simultaneously figurative and abstract, applying the visual principles of the “image-mass-production-line” alongside the techniques of the fine artist, to create highly intriguing and original paintings.”

Alexander – Acrylic on canvas. 40” x 40” - £750
A very impressive painting. The pop art colours lend a frivolity to the subject matter, which makes the reveal of the image contained within the dots all the more rewarding.

Gabriel – Mixed media on canvas. – 30” x30” - £650
This is a beautiful painting. The use of mixed media means that the dots are seen almost in relief creating a multi-sensorial piece – both visually stimulating and almost tactile.

Life Begins – Acrylic on canvas – 30” x30” - £650
A celebration of emancipation and a beautifully tactile painting.

Blue – Acrylic on canvas. 32” x 40” - £700
A large and very impactful painting.

Little Friend – Acrylic on canvas – 40” x 40”
A wonderfully ironic piece. If you believe that modern art takes itself too seriously then the charming “illuding image” of a child’s soft toy should appeal to you.

Chris Kearns

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