Jasmine Middlebrook - Afterglow Catalogue

JASMINE MIDDLEBROOK

Thursday 2nd March - 27th March 2023

Afterglow

“My work focuses on the realm of pictorial narrative, exploring ways in which painting can communicate passages of time and how this can be imbedded into the painting process through the notion of painting as ‘becoming’. The different stages of development in the painting process suggesting the various moments and perspectives within a narrative”

– Jasmine Middlebrook

ABOUT

Fables, fantasies and the realm of the fantastic is familiar and inspirational ground for this New Plymouth based artist. Her highly original, visually captivating works transport the viewer to a time and place of wonder.

Exotic members of the Animal Kingdom are often portrayed within a New Zealand landscape, echoing and amplifying the call of the wild. Architecture, still life and portraiture are also woven into narratives that makes the viewer wonder at the meaning and the technical brilliance of the work.

Jasmine says of her work: “Being surrounded by the visual does not necessarily mean we notice what we see. In this image saturated culture we often fail to pay attention, interpreting images in everyday life without much conscious thought at all. Therefore the looking and taking note of images effectively is especially important in the act of painting. Strategic use of images help us access aspects of knowledge that may have otherwise remained hidden or ignored.

Symbols and metaphors provide ideal triggers for such occasions, as they have the ability to characterise and communicate, often difficult to describe, experiences. From the most basic forms to complex images, each has a meaning to us, whether we are conscious of it or not. We learn these connotative meanings through our own personal experiences in culture and society.