Talking Painting Artist's Talk: Hannah Maybank
Among many lectures, I find a strong connection with Hannah Maybank. Our creative methods align starting from the initial step of photographing. However, this isn't just about taking pictures; it's about observing and capturing the essence of nature. When I return to my studio, like Maybank, I use these photos as a basis for my sketches, drawing on my sketchbook with careful, thoughtful strokes. My work, much like Maybank's, aims to go beyond the surface. As she articulates, “the physical stuff of the painting is trapped beneath the surface, but also the thoughts of making the painting. And although when you look at them, you're reflected back, so you can see yourself when you look at the painting”. This resonates with me. When I create, I'm not just applying paint to a canvas; I'm embedding my thoughts, experiences, and emotions into the work. This reflects my commitment to moving away from a human-centered view of the world and towards a deeper understanding of the various forms of life around us. Hence, it can be said that my choice to focus on plants in my art is a conscious decision to explore these different forms of life. It's not just about portraying plants; it's about understanding and representing their life cycles, their interactions with their environment, and their significance in the larger ecosystem. This aligns with Maybank's observation that viewers can see themselves in her paintings. In my art, viewers are invited to see not just their reflections but to consider their place in the larger web of life.
Lisa Chang Lee’s lecture is also inspiring. Her works integrate AI and various technology to fill her art with different sounds of the nature, using algorithms and digital processes to add depth. Her approach involves a cycle: starting from nature, progressing through data capture and algorithmic transformation, and finally connecting back to the human experience and the physical medium. Whether it's her darkly tinged prints from a decade ago, or the following moving images and installations, her works have always conveyed a unique stillness to me. For example, in her series “Learn to Fear, Because Fear is the Greatest Bond of All”, the use of photography to seize the transient moments before dusk in the dark woods has beautifully captured the stillness in nature. It is just so calming staring at those images. It's as if her art captures the silent, internal experiences of the body, reminiscent of the continuous, quiet sounds in my mind. Maybe her work is less about the external world and more a reflection of her personal sensations. This aligns with my own practice of capturing the stillness in plants, where each image holds a quiet narrative. Although there are highlights like musical notes in my paintings, they still can be regarded as a quiet, luminous presence. Both approaches reveal a shared appreciation for the subtle, often unseen tranquility in nature, inviting viewers into a space of reflection and quietude, away from the noise of everyday life. I am also bringing a similar level of serenity and contemplation to my work, providing the viewer with an undisturbed space to think and feel.
Research Methods: Lisa Chang Lee
“I began to collect lots and lots of photographs of moments that you would only experience if you'd been in the place at a particular moment in time. I began to think about it in terms of how these can be put together in paintings that had the appearance of being like natural history paintings, but with drawing relationships between the things that didn't exist in the real world.” These words by Mark Fairnington are also what I resonate with. The highlights in my paintings embed the concept of instantaneity that I embrace. These highlights, also captured in the fleeting moments of photography, are not just visual elements; they represent the essence of the transient, the ephemeral nature of time and light. In my process, the act of photographing plants is a practice in capturing these ephemeral highlights - the way sunlight filters through leaves or the subtle glisten on a petal after a rain.
Mark Fairnington also discussed how meaning can be derived from a painting, arguing that by combining different photographs, the painting itself is slowly detached from the photographic material, and the true meaning of the work begins to emerge. This is something that also interests me currently during artmaking. How do we find meaning in our works? It finally dawned on me that meaning is created when we are putting our personal feelings or thoughts onto the canvas.
Mark Fairnington
