JULIA SILVESTER

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Memories make us who we are. What do our memories tell us about ourselves? In her work, memories, dreams, past and present, are thoroughly connected in a narrative that integrates elements of surrealism and impressionistic realism. 
A series of oil paintings, drawings and photographs make old fading memories become physical lasting representations of my identity. The small scale of her work, presented on panels and sketchbooks, is designed to promote an intimate observation, to call upon the viewer’s senses, to spark an emotional investment and response. She believes that salient memories when internalised, can become utterly entangled with our identities and our ultimate role in this world.
 
Process is a pivotal part of my work; dim visions appear during meditation for inspiration and an introspective conversation takes place. The multilayered paint narrates past experiences, reviving a liberating sense of belonging. Aluminium panels have the ideal resistance, aesthetic and archival properties to support my oil paintings. The deep yet muted colour palette, along with the composition reminiscent of the memory, create a nostalgic atmosphere, intended to pull the viewer in the picture, by stimulating a retrospective view that overcomes reality.
 
Photography, as memory creator and protector, is essential to my practice. Ephemeral moments of personal, ancestral and collective memory, are aimed to provoke thoughts and appeal to senses and emotions. Autobiographical notions emerge from photographs from my family album, where ordinary scenes of human connections and quiet moments of contemplation, become one with striking whispers of undocumented memories. 

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https://www.juliasilvesterart.com

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