Description
CHRISTINE WATSON
British
Large-scale depictions of weather-beaten, ageing women from Southern Europe, her canvasses present their anonymous subjects in their everyday reality, engaged in daily mundane tasks, such as washing, knitting, sewing, or simply resting. Yet, there is nothing mundane about Watson’s imagery of femininity. Carefully avoiding the viewers investigating gaze – usually painted from behind, head looking away or hidden behind straw hats and head covers- her big female figures balance their anonymity with the monumentality of their postures and dignity of expression. Elevating the trivial onto the realm of the heroic, Watson’s paintings seem to re-constitute visually the tales of female labour and indeed find their own enclave in the long history of female imagery.
Projecting her figures onto flatly surfaced and brightly coloured backgrounds, Watson poises the figurative with the abstract. Strong chiaroscuros contrasting exact lighting to abstract shading add on this effect by creating a dramatic, almost metaphysical feeling about the works. Monumental, enigmatic, and powerful, Watson’s imagery is rich in meanings and technical qualities, thereby compensating both intellect and senses.
