Walk into a colourfield

Friday 12 April 2019

Two abstract painters who like playing with colour spontaneity are exhibiting their work in a pop-up show at Private & Public Space.

Kirsty Garcia and Daniel Porter’s “joyous celebrations of colour, light and movement” have taken to the walls of the Sommerville House gallery.

‘The Colourfield’ marks Kirsty’s first show almost on her own. While she previously exhibited her works in group exhibitions, this is the first time she shares the space with only one other artist.  “I am excited,” she told Express before the exhibition. “I’m nervous as well but it’s good nerves.”

Kirsty has been painting since her childhood, starting with a sketchbook and watercolours.  “I carried on all my life,” she said. “I’ve never stop creating.”

Colour plays a huge part in Kirsty’s work and she manipulates it using different mediums, including acrylics, spray paint and alcohol inks. She also uses a heat gun to create different effects on synthetic paper.

Pictured: Kirsty plays with contrasting colours in her work. 

In her earlier works, Kirsty juxtaposed colours of various densities and temperatures, repeating vertical, transparent brushstrokes. These led to related works painted directly onto the wall, where she has lined hallways in sublime fields of artificial colour. 

For this new exhibition, Kirsty used one of the gallery’s walls as her canvas, covering it in dripping greys, blues, yellows and pinks. The fact that it will be soon be painted over when the week long exhibitions comes to an end makes the painting even more special Kirsty says. “It adds a different element,” she said.

Explaining the process she went through to create the ephemeral work, Kirsty says there almost wasn’t any. While it took about 11 hours to complete, the artist didn’t really have a plan.

Pictured: Kirsty's ephemeral mural at the Gallery.

“I can’t visualize the end result, it’s very spontaneous,” she explained. “I chose the colours, started with dark in the corner and let it do its own thing. I placed the colour first and laid the dripping afterwards. The paint took control I see where it takes me and try to not overwork it. It all comes together in the end.”

Next to Kirsty’s dramatic murals sit Daniel Porter’s equally colourful paintings. Originally from the UK, Daniel moved to Jersey five years ago. He studied Fine Art painting in London and has been painting ever since. Nowadays his practice is inspired by American abstract artists and Daniel works a lot with colour and the emotion within colour.

Having moved to Rozel when he arrived in Jersey, Daniel says the bay, “its light and the colours that come through” inspired him to paint landscapes.

Pictured: A selection of Daniel's work on display at Private & Public.

“I use the canvas as a space you can rearrange,” he explained. “It’s like a 3D space you can look at. My brush strokes are very spontaneous, it’s an emotional movement. I’ve studied Japanese calligraphy and the way they form their characters in a meditative, introspective way and it’s something I use in my work.”

It can take Daniel months and months to finish a painting, and even then, he sometimes comes back to them to fix something here and there. “I start with one thing and then I will think about the next step for a while and then one day it will just come to me.”

Whatever medium he works on – oils, acrylics, pastel, spray paint or ink – Daniel looks for the most vibrant colours. This naturally led him to paint on glass. “You get the colour to glow, there is a juiciness to it,” he explained, adding that working on glass means you have to work in reverse: what would be your last stroke on canvas is actually the one you start with. 

Pictured: Working on glass brings out the juiciness in colours Daniel says.

Commenting on the exhibition, Gallery Director Chris Clifford said: “Kirsty Garcia & Daniel Porter are both gifted painters who have a natural flair and ability to craft beautiful artworks. Their paintings are joyous celebrations of colour, movement and light and it gives me great pleasure to show their works side by side. 

“The gallery has developed a reputation for showcasing the very best works by internationally acclaimed artists here in Jersey, but we will always continue to support leading artistic talent on island. I would encourage everybody to pay a visit to this ‘pop-up’ exhibition which is free to the public”.

‘The Colourfield’ opens tonight at 17:30 with an informal drinks reception.