“These works explore the tension between our personal relationships with objects and the raw physicality of the object itself. As an artist I cannot place a sense of use or control onto an ‘object’, this is because it both draws me into its existence in which I have no control and takes a part of me. This exploration involves two elements ‘The Self’ (Subject) and ‘The Environment’ (Object).
“While exploring my relationships to objects through the reading of ‘Elemental Ecocriticism’ (Morton, 2015) I began to understand the intricacies of these relationships. Considering Mortons’ idea that objects become fusions of the placement of emotive value (The self) and object (the inanimate) we must view objects as conversational within space; the objects within it create a dynamic exchange and vibrancy that can be reflected in the composition of these works.
“Utilising watercolour, emulsion and pencil I explore how I interact with these two elements. I aim to see a wider picture of an environment, that both acknowledges the emotive value of objects and the weight on that on the viewer (subject).
“These abstracted works attempt to push the boundary of creative freedom, as things don’t have to always be as they appear visually.”
Bethan Gibbs’ exhibition is currently showing in the Plaza Exhibition Space outside the Hearth Gallery in University Hospital Llandough.