Emily Byrne
Working primarily in watercolour, I create apparently hyper-realistic paintings on a small scale. Using a layering method, I remove the translucent-like properties that are associated with watercolours in order to make them seem as opaque as possible, as if they were in a different medium. I am aiming for a transparent methodology to bring the focus to the image itself rather than the method used to paint it.
This current series are of the human form filled with confectionery. To be more specific, cake. What led me to this is my interest in anatomy and the use of the body to express ideas. Previously I have made small works depicting bodies filled with sweets, and the reason I chose to use cake was because I was attracted by its metaphorical possibilities. ‘Cake’ has many resonances; attractive young women used to be called ‘cheesecake’, and there is an erotic association with food, but it also reflects cultural differences, from the Ube cake of the Philippines, where my mother’s family come from, to the Gulab jamun or the Black Forest Gateau.
This cake/human hybrid acts as a commentary on the inner self and personality, and I am interested in this mixture of cultural and psychological associations, reflecting on my personal state of existence.
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