Liz Gridley
Liz Gridley’s work centres on her experiences of states of hyper-emotion. Distress arises from overstimulation; feelings of being overwhelmed from external stimuli that cause a physical response in the body.
Though the recent revelation of her diagnosis with ADHD has shed light on Gridley’s emotional nature, hyper-emotion remains a core element of her personality and sense of self. Meditation, contemplative thought, and catharsis regulate this emotional response and re-centres the body, only to then anticipate the next emotional wave.
Through contemporary figurative oil paintings Gridley reflects her internal states and connects viscerally with the viewer. The personal inevitability of death & death care is a point in which dialogue can be culturally celebrated or silenced. Here Gridley’s experience with hyper-emotion makes room for conversation that is often taken for granted or pushed aside as taboo.
Gridley’s passion for realist oil painting has developed to include the use of contemporary surfaces. The reflective appeal of aluminium panels allows the viewer to influence the work by changing reflections visible through the transparent paint layers. The exchange of shadows across the paint surface allows the painted figure to occupy the space of the gallery with the viewer, rather than hide in the sealed, imagined ‘window’ of canvas.