My painting Observer has been selected as a finalist in the 2015 Chippendale New World Art Prize! www.chippendalecreative.com/

Artist statement

Phenomena – experienced through the mind of the Observer – intuited, glimpsed, felt, known or imagined. The use of the Ruckenfigur or back-figure is a nod to the Romantics and the Kantian notion of the Sublime. It is also a means to observe the body within space that is unaware of being watched. Within our selfie-obsessed visual culture, images of the unself-conscious body become rarefied and increasingly interesting both visually and ideologically. According to Kant phenomena refers to appearances or objects, which are perceived, observed or apprehended through experience, reliant upon our sensory intuition of things and offering glimpses into collective truths. The visual tension between form and formlessness, detail and incompleteness interest me as they align with our attempts to make sense of the metaphysical world.

Ann Arora 2015