Mia Wilkinson is a London based artist, whose oil paintings are visceral explorations of certain sexualized female forms. The sensual indulgence with which she approaches the paint is reflective of her subject; female body builders and squashers wrestle on the canvas in an orgy of drips and loaded excess paint. The humorous and light hearted intention with which she approaches her work is not lost, as complex issues of sex and gender are confronted by her brush.
‘Accidental properties created by applying wet on wet, prove just as important to my work; dripping from the nipples and nails and mouth and feet, that go in and out of the women enable a feeling of sensuality sprinkled with disgust’
Handling the paint in a fast paced vigour, Wilkinson’s paintings have found their own loopy language in which it describes the figures with intense immediacy, whilst still embracing the particularities of the female flesh. Exuding a confidence within the paint she plays with the sculptural solidity of their bodies against flat backgrounds, referencing the images of which she originally collated to use as a source material. The work is unapologetic, and intense, yet doesn’t become the expected angst ridden expressionism, rather comedic as the figures are increasingly morphing out of themselves and are hilariously exposed as bizarre avatars. Confined within unsettling narratives and displaying an obvious absurd aggression and transgression, provides a powerful yet witty statement about the way identity is performed within a media culture.
Wilkinson is currently exhibiting at the Saatchi Gallery as part of the show 'The Way of All Flesh' presented by Delphian Gallery.
Untitled
Henpecked
