Library #8

My work in painting is driven by my experience as a Hungarian living abroad first in the U.S. and now permanently in the UK: I am interested in human relationships to spaces in general, as well as the notions of home and belonging in particular.

In my paintings of domestic and public interiors, I use reductive paint application and flat blocks of colour in order to express a sense of both alienation and comfort. At first glance, my paintings of spaces that are devoid of people and particularities might seem impersonal and uninviting. Yet, I aim to suggest a sense of intimacy through a quiet, muted, and potentially seductive colour palette. Similarly, I emphasise a shallow depth of spatial field, which might correspond to the way we localise our experiences of spaces. My methodical and controlled approach to formal elements and technique lets up, however, through touch: my hand trembles where colour blocks meet, forming gently wavering lines throughout the paintings, thus establishing a human presence. I want always to make paintings that are affecting and alive.

My most recent paintings take libraries as their subject. I am most interested in libraries as spaces that support learning and the general cultivation of thought in a social and political climate where fact-based expertise might be less valued. I feel that painting is an appropriate medium to depict library interiors, which are not only typically quiet and still, but have an air of permanence. Library interiors also provide me with an opportunity to further explore my formal painterly interests in space, stillness, order and colour.

Artworks from this project: