"An effigy is a symbolic sculpture of a specific person, used in ritual. I chose this title in relation to this painting as I have become more and more concerned with the idea of the act of painting as a way of reinvoking the person depicted in the source photograph, a way of bringing this image back to life, seeing painting as a transformative act. As effigies are usually sculptural i was also interested in the idea that this work could also be a painting of a sculpture, allowing the work to hover between a number of states: paint/image, two dimensions/three dimensions, dead/re-enlivened. This is also enabled by the monochrome nature of the painting which allows for an oscillation between figuration and abstraction.
This work was executed in acrylic which enforced a new pace to the work as a result of the mediums fast drying time in comparison with oil. This pace meant brush marks and adjustments had to be more decisive and assertive giving the work a feeling of speed and acceleration. This, combined with the physical scale of the work allowed me to focus on the work as a physical experirience and the relationship between myself as a mediator between the source and the viewer."
Laura Lancaster