“My paintings speak of a desire to create sanctuary for the self” says Miranda Skoczek. In her work, combined energies of gestural freedom, opulent colour and the physical qualities of paint emanate from the field of the canvas, extending to the viewer a sensual immersion within a haptic, temporal space. Further playing on a connection to perceptual depth and the passage of time, references are made to ancient cultures, the decorative arts and domestic architectures, proposing in the words of cultural critic Alain de Botton that ‘home is the guardian of our identity’.
Skoczek evokes the palimpsest as archeology, layering paint to provide a source of history and ramping up process for a leap into the unknown. A self-confessed “big consumer of images”, she constantly trolls the internet and glossy magazines to fuel her need to collect, organize, edit and re-edit images from high and popular culture. By valuing honesty over notions of purity, a gentle irony seeps into Skoczek’s search for the sublime: her work rests upon the coexistence of beauty and imperfection. Seeing, finding and revealing are invested with spiritual importance for the artist and the viewer and create a shared, meditative, visual world not unknown to artists like Rothko, but here accessible and accepting through her elegant, yet slightly off-kilter lyricism.
Miranda Skoczek holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from the Victoria College of Arts, University of Melbourne and a Diploma of Applied Arts and Graphic Design from the Canberra Institute of Technology. She has exhibited her paintings and collages internationally as well as throughout Australia in numerous solo and group exhibitions.
Exhibition Opening: 20th October, 6 – 8pm
