Leanne Carter

This series of paintings is based on the female form.  The main focus of this series is working from my own body. The paintings are created with a variety of brushes and acrylic paint with a varnish brushed over the top in certain areas. The work is presented on unstretched canvas, nailed onto the wall with the ability to flow freely and not be boxed in within a frame.  The work is expressionistic, created to evoke the viewer to question their own likeness. It is a body of work created around self-acceptance and the ability to be at peace with your own image, what some would call ‘a celebration of women.’ With the abstract qualities of the work, it shows a body distorted and stretched in a similar way to the Cubists. The body of work shows a mixture of bolder colour and distinctive shapes with vibrant block colour.

These works were created by painting female form from a mirror using shapes and line, moving around to observe different parts of the body to make up the basis of the painting.  It is partially created through imagination and observation to create a well-balanced painting using a mixture of reds, pinks and nudes to still have a warm bodily feel to the work, not drifting to be too unrecognisable.  Exploring a body through painting is the perfect way to create acceptance, the entire process of the brush to the paint and the paint to the canvas is calming. By painting you can choose the balance between figuration and abstraction, deciding the extent you wish to go to reveal your truest self.