Approved: 16.08.2006

Vivienne Baker

Artist

Approved: 16.08.2006

My most recent paintings including the 'Reflect' series have moved in a more abstract direction after a series of work initially inspired by Abbots Pond near Abbots Leigh Bristol. The paintings have become about the idea of reflection and are organised in a more formally abstract way by the layering of transparent and opaque paint surfaces with previous elements partially visible beneath. The painted surface, snaking and weaving its way across and over hidden depths of experimentation and struggle is like the surface of a lake, reflecting, concealing, always in motion, hiding what looms below. In the aquatic environment, uninhabitable to us, a glimpse of what lies beneath can only be hinted at.

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Artist Statement

My most recent paintings including the 'Reflect' series have moved in a more abstract direction after a series of work initially inspired by Abbots Pond near Abbots Leigh Bristol. The paintings have become about the idea of reflection and are organised in a more formally abstract way by the layering of transparent and opaque paint surfaces with previous elements partially visible beneath. The painted surface, snaking and weaving its way across and over hidden depths of experimentation and struggle is like the surface of a lake, reflecting, concealing, always in motion, hiding what looms below. In the aquatic environment, uninhabitable to us, a glimpse of what lies beneath can only be hinted at.

Concepts :  My general working methods in the mediums of both painting and print-making involve a slow build-up of layers of differing tonal values and opacity and the use of colour contrasts and harmonies in the description of space. Starting points for previous paintings have been memory and the use of tiny low resolution photographs taken on a mobile phone. I have been interested (in the present high-tech climate), to make use of low-tech resources and exploit the distortion and interference that is produced with the enlargement of a low quality image, (or distortion and heightening when relying on memory). Through the use of traditional materials, using untraditional tools such as decorating rollers and spray guns, the image evolves and emerges from a slow multilayering process, creating undefined spaces that the viewer has to work to interpret. The images /memories that I work from are all scenes that I have encountered but changed and distorted during the process of painting, to reveal something new, capturing perhaps only the essence of a place or memory. They suggest that there is more to the story. Some of my previous more figurative paintings are like moments, stills from a film or an old home movie. Ancient woodlands have particular appeal because of the time scale of the life in these settings, compared to the relatively short life of a human or the fleeting monent of a human passing through.

Career path Main Qualifications: 2000 MA, Printmaking, University of the West of England, Bristol 1990 Foundation in Art Therapy, Bath College of Further Education 1988 BA Hons, Fine Art, Coventry Polytechnic. 

Residences/Artists Workshops: 2006 Armenian International Biennale exhibition and residency. 1996 Art OMI Artists Workshop Residency, OMI New York, America 1995 Triangle Artists Workshop, Marseilles, France 1993 Residency, Exhibition and Exchange, Oporto, Portugal 1991 Shaw Farm Artists Workshop, Somerset

Exhibitiing in solo and group exhibitions both locally and internationally since leaving education. Mosty recent international exhibition was 2017 Xishuangbanna group exhibition in Yunnan China and locally 2020 contemporary painters, Centrespace Gallery Bristol.

CV & Education

Solo exhibitions

2018 - Station. Bristol harbourside festival.

2017 - Centrespace Gallery Bristol

2012 - The View Gallery, Hotwells, Bristol

2011 - "Stills", The George gallery, Newnham on severn, Gloucestershire

1999 - Brewhouse Theatre

1997 - Pfizer Research Company

1996 - Beaux Arts Gallery, Bath

1995 - Bromham Mill Gallery, Bedford

1994 - Beaux Arts Gallery, Bath

1993 - King Street Gallery, Bristol

1991 - Praxis Gallery, Bristol

1990 - Hewlett Packard, Bristol

Group exhibitions

2020 - Contemporary painters 2020, Centrespace Gallery, Bristol

2017 - Xishuangbanna International exhibition, Yunnan, China

2015 - Battersea art fair and Hampstead art fair.

2014 - View Gallery Hotwells Bristol

2013 - RWA 100 years 100 paintings Bristol

2012 - View Gallery Hotwells Bristol

2011 - Summer exhibition & Christmas exhibition, The Bristol Gallery, Millenium Square ,Bristol

2006 - 5th Armenian International Biennale, "Stil" Art Museum, Gyumri, Armenia

2002 - If Pressed, Sherborne House, Dorset

2002 - Spike Island Open Studio, Spike Island, Bristol

2001 - Spike Island Open Studio, Spike Island, Bristol

2001 - Summer Show, Workshop Wales Gallery, Fishguard, Wales

2000 - Contemporary Print Show, Barbican Centre, London

2000 - R W A Print Triennial, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol

2000 - R W A Summer Exhibition (Winner of the R W A Purchase Prize), Royal West of England Academy, Bristol

1999 - Spike Island Open Studio Exhibition

1998 - Beaux Arts Summer Show, Bath

1998 - Cardiff Bay Arts Trust

1997 - Beatrice Royal Contemporary Art Gallery, Hampshire Off Centre Gallery, Bristol

1996 - Omi Exhibition, New York, USA

1995 - Triangle Exhibitions, Luminy Art College and La Tour du Roy Rene, Marseilles, France 1994 - Ernst and Young Accountants, Bristol

1993 - Taylors Port Company, Oporto, Portugal

1990 - Brewhouse Open, Taunton

1990 - Colston Hall Gallery, Bristol