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No Way Out

By Victoria Stanway

About this art

Genre: Urban
Medium: Painting
Size: 100.00cm x 127.00cm
Year: 2003

A doodle I made whilst bored at work on a post-it note evolved into my main body of work entitled Landscapes of the Mind. Most of the series of surreal, cubist, mindscape paintings, have been sold to private collectors. These contemporary and modern landscape paintings fuse a mixture of different references. Distinctive and unique in style, this series of work has been drawn from the imagination and memories of my childhood. I grew up in Nelson, Lancashire, an economy that was dependent on the cotton mills, where virtually all my relatives worked at some stage in their lives. Geographically developed in a basin, the rows of back to back terraced houses were built on the steep hills and troughs, squeezing as many into the available space. As a child, walking home from school, we weaved our way home through the maze of back streets, mill yards and industrial wastelands. This series of work attempts to express these memories. The claustrophobic space of the terraces, strange things lurking in the cobbled back streets. Retreating to the luminous and expansive countryside only to find other unsettling experiences.

Average rating: 9.00

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About the artist

As a child I always loved painting and drawing but never knew what to do with my ability. I went to art school (as it was the only subject I excelled at), and gained distinctions in all units, but I still didn't know what I wanted to do. I didn't really know who I was and never used my talent to find out. I guess I was lacking in the emotional maturity to question myself, so I eventually decided to head off in a different direction choosing to study film at degree level. After having various soul destroying jobs (to pay off the student debts), I realised that the world of work was never going to give me any personal gratification and I should try and find that elsewhere. So I picked up my paint brushes again and began to experiment. It had taken me all those years to understand who I was and what I wanted in my life. I found that the ideas came flooding out. This is where my main body of work Landscape of the Minds was started. I have just taken the bold decision to resign from my 'proper' job to devote all my time to art. I don't know how long I can keep going on my savings, but I've got to give it a go at least.

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Ratings

Rated by 1 person | rate this art.

Rated 9 by Ruskin Don | 28/08/2008
"Loved the intricacy and intwined shapes very striking,the holistc way the work ivolded is very similer to how i work , brilliant stuff"

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