Lola Stong-Brett

My practice touches upon many juxtapositions, teasing the viewer with conflicting thoughts. Coexisting within figuration and abstraction, my work begins spurred by emotion drawn from my every day. Originally subconscious rapid, gestural marks later become precise, turning into repeating patterns and conscious motifs, creating order out of chaos. My work is both kinetic and static, with objects and people frozen, working with and against one another to create both harmony and awkwardness within the same confined space. Informed by my immediate surroundings, my work provides snippets of information into our everyday lives. The abstract marks I create intertwine with figuration to create distorted views of our contemporary realities. Like an Instagram post my drawings and paintings are windows into different stories, and scenes witnessed, however they are focused on the overlooked, the unseen and the forgotten. The marks on my page are originally created through thoughts on socio-political imagery and the mundane repetitiveness of the everyday. Contemporary themes on class structures, childhood memory and support systems direct my practice. Mingling contemporary subject matter with traditional technique, my influences range from Medieval Manuscripts and Renaissance frescoes to cartoon imagery and street art, blurring the boundary between high and low-end art. My drawings and paintings are like sculptural objects; with layers built up over time, holding the weight of emotion and subconscious instinct. Process and drawing are integral to my practice.