ARTISTS TALKING

As is often the case, my observations do not always lead to answers; nor are viewpoints ever set in stone. The journey is not a straight line; it does not take the same route or use the same mode of transport.

The results capture a moment in time while reflecting the complexity and ephemeral nature of life. Throughout my work, I attempt to unravel this complexity with a diversity of forms, paint, use of colour and light.

Photographic media and film have always been central to the development of my painting practice. Advances in digital technology have furthered this. Recently, I have begun to look at this media in a new light, no longer as a progressive tool towards paint, but in its own right.

I am currently in a transitional period experimenting with a broader range of resources. Lately, I have explored a number of environments almost exclusively through photographic media and used these spaces as subject matter to examine existing concepts. The resulting work loses the sensation of familiar, structured time and space – dictates nothing, but projects and captures a moment's glare, challenging the viewer and charging them to push beyond their own zenith.

An installation of her works will be touring this autumn.

For further details about this forthcoming project visit www.alexroberts.com

UPDATE 2006
Alex’s current collections of works appear more contrived and fantastical. They hint at the marriage of previous drawing-based and photographic exploration. They reflect the mingling of the contemplative power of photography with its ability to capture an image and the intense vigour and energy of pencil meeting paper – the fusing of two states.

Her new paintings and prints seem to provoke or question the viewer. Is the ‘figure’ within the new works the artist coming out to play from behind the lens? Has the artist sought to capture the characters within the image or has she used their image as a tool to investigate a thought? Or possibly are the figures placed as a spectacle to stir or jolt our individual senses and contemplations? Who is the voyeur – we the viewer or the figures within the image? Who is questioning, who is poking fun?