Anna McDermott

In today's day and age, nothing quite seems as it appears and I find it ironic that what we use to connect online, reflects our faces like mirrors. Yet for us to see what's going on, we're forced to ignore our reflections with the use of colour and light. I'm intrigued by this process and the impact on the individual; and rather than ignoring your reflection with a metallic device, I use metal and reflective surfaces that encourage you to look for yourself within the art. The change in focus, causes the initial impact of the painting's composition to cease in importance, with an invitation to look closer at mesmerizing deep textures that have ultra smooth surfaces; upon which light dances across iridescent colours tensioned with the opaque. To see what's going on, reflections are chased with tilted heads, bodies bent this way and that, looking from side to side, in exactly the same way I moved to create the painting. It's like a universally known but never learnt dance – a visceral interactive response between us. Which is unique for each person as no one will ever see the exact same image. Because there is such interaction with the art, the creative process is completed by whoever hangs and places the work. As by adding the piece to an individual environment, it will react uniquely to the light and colours within the space, which becomes the final creative expression. There is also a very personal element to my art, in that it is an exploration and expression of a journey where the impact of life experiences left me devastated. Each piece starts with my reflection scattered into a million fragments that represent what I went through; from that I create and give myself a voice and presence I never had at the time. With no other artist to reference, it has been this need that has driven me to invent processes and techniques, such aluminium sketching, that permit greater expression. I've had to be inventive and include substances such as Vodka, for reasons based in chemistry. I am on a journey of exploration that continually changes and develops. My compositions and techniques are ever developing transitory steps toward a deeper need, to explore a greater connection within us all. Originally from London, where I attended St Martin's College of Art, I now reside in Devon with my artist husband John Mcdermott http://johnmcdermottartist.co.uk Devon