Painting & Printmaking School of Fine Art
Eve Wilbraham

On the canvas, Eve creates a dynamic, varied space that drifts between figuration and abstraction. The subject matter is in constant flux as the figural elements slowly reveal themselves to the viewer, demanding an engagement and consideration of the surface. Through a differentiation in the texture, transparency and speed in which the paint is applied, the forms are in a constant process of becoming as the eye considers and navigates the distorted, ephemeral nature of the surface. The viewers perception of depth is disorientated as fragments of forms are dispersed across the surface, pushing and pulling the eye through the disparate layers of paint.
Although varied in surface there is a sense of totality to the paintings. A unity that is created through the echo of speckled marks that diffuse across the canvas. Incidental marks are found and emerge as part of the composition as the subject is discovered through the process itself. The ‘accidents’ that happen in the early stages of a painting remain present as decisions are made and unmade; creating a rich space, layered with choice and difference. The figure of Pierrot is revisited often in the work, appearing like a shadow on the surface, this character occupies the space in harmony with the forms around him. Augmenting the sense of this fantastical world that is being built. A delicate balance is created in the work as mysticism and theatrically play out alongside one another and hold together a world that is both melancholic and celestial in emotional impact.

