Liz Dalton · Artist

Artist's Statement

Inspiration

Drawing is often my starting point; I like to doodle in my sketchbook or on bits of scrap paper or post-it notes. Sometimes visualising an idea on paper is enough to help me think things through.

I get ideas from dreams, my imagination and from observation. Working on a sustained piece is very rewarding and also can be therapeutic.

Shadow paintings

These were made in my Sydenham studio. Large scale drawings are interpreted in paint on canvas, expressive of my moods and the surrounding suburban gardens.

I have produced many of these paintings as commissions for London clients. They are an on-going project and four designs are due to feature as greeting cards shortly.

Lino prints

Cutting images in lino from enlarged doodles is very satisfying. It's a way, in which, I can make subconscious thoughts more concrete. Trapped animals have been in my recurring dreams since a hospitalisation 3 years ago. A diagnosis of Bi-polar has added another dimension to my life and given me new insight and empathy.

Digital drawings

The bitmap effect of lines drawn in Adobe Photoshop lends itself to creating characters with distinctive profiles. Decisive marks are made with light as each pixel can be clicked on and off. I produced these images during my pregnancy, childbirth and the early years of my son's life. The contours show creatures with human/animal form reflective of the bestial nature of these moments of bodily transition.

Egyptian series

I sometimes like to try to engage the viewer with humour. Making work which communicates a sense of irony, I depict characters/creatures with a comical aspect. The sphinx is enigmatic half human/ half beast, by obscuring her identity with a veil I add to the mystery that surrounds her. In Cleopatra's needle I replace the obelisk, back in the desert from where it originated.

My work has a shallow picture surface, in 'Mirror Phase' the infant creature comes face to face with his own image. Due to the lack of perspective he is differentiated mainly by the background colours.