Liv Fox
Degree: Painting and Printmaking
University: Glasgow School of Art
Graduation Year: 2023
New Blood Art Commentary
Painting is a daydream for Liv Fox. Driven by a way of seeing that is open to painterly moments everywhere, Liv works in acrylic on wood, paper and canvas, investigating the endless possibility of composition. Using gentle, considered tones that appear to be in balanced conversation with each other, Liv sees the rendering of colour as a 'sculptural painterly expression'. Interested in the potentialities of the 'X' shape, this focus on repeating motifs and consequent inquiry into form, structure and simplicity allows for a deeper investigation into new compositions, mediums and displays. Less really is more, as materials and shapes are disassembled, reassembled, and pushed to their limit - quite literally in 'Strike 2', which sees the recurring 'X' released from its blocky canvas and set loose onto the wall around it, extending the boundaries of composition potentially exponentially. Elsewhere, we see the smooth, rounded lines of the 'X' floating freely, as in '2 Broken X's', 'Broken X (green, yellow)' and 'Yellow Strike', inviting viewers to consider the inevitable temptation to reassemble, and acceptance that they will always be disassembled, complete in their incompleteness and separation. In other works such as 'Intersection Plank' and 'Overlap (pink, blue)', colours cross and mingle in semi-opaque layers like screens of gauze, or layers of sunlight, creating new tonalities.
Artist Statement
Painterly moments exist in everyday temporalities. Light spots stretching around a curved wall, a colour field of grass seasonally shifting, negative spaces appearing between objects. These everyday formal moments kickstart the daydream that lies behind my work. Utilising colour, material, and iteration, my work considers the boundaries of painting in a way that asks the viewer to question and indulge. Repeating a singular motif licences me to make. The motif gets repeated, stretched and broken, forming around and beyond a canvas. Material behaviours equally get stretched and bent, working with and against expectation. Colour is the ultimate tool of language in the work, and it is what defines how the material and the motif exist. The rendering of the colour is a sculptural painterly expression. I maintain simplicity to make us focus on each element of the composition, reflecting upon this material behaviour, colour strength or the character of the motif. Keeping a simple visual language allows me to express the joy of the visual and invites the viewer to daydream as I often do.
Group Exhibitions
(2023) and now the light is on it, Boardroom Committeeroom, Glasgow
(2021) Closer, On The Rag, Manchester