kerry louise bennett
oil on canvas
Kerry Louise Bennett makes vibrant works loaded with texture and pattern. Her previous experience in set design, furniture restoration and photography, and her love of Magical Realism in literature and music, all feed into the semi-abstract interior and still life compositions she paints
Elements in her paintings are informed by memories rather than being drawn directly from life. Instead, Kerry conjures objects intuitively to serve her sense of spatial orchestration with the abstract sensibility of a process-led artist. However, an essence of romance and storytelling always seems to emerge in her charming, characterful paintings
Like the conductor of an unruly orchestra, Kerry works over multiple layers before finding the story the painting wants to tell. Colour and composition, strong mark-making, and the essential materiality of paint drive her practice. Whilst people are absent in her still-lifes, each one contains a strong sense of the personality of the creator – the introvert, the observer, the dreamer
“I am a painter, a lover of colour, texture and narrative. Sensitive, curious, bold and messy, I find freedom in the act of painting, and a deep satisfaction in the resolution of the visual conundrums that emerge when I embark on a conversation with the canvas. The process is instinctive, and there can be many passes over the canvas before the final work appears. I find it so fascinating that my chaotic approach often results in paintings that exude a real sense of calm contained in such a riot of colour!”
Kerry’s work is held in private collections in the UK, USA and Europe
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