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“A self-confessed ‘Fusionist’, I mix influences from the East and West,and genres and styles from the early twentieth-century to the present day. I love to pay homage to the past: the multiple perspectives of cubism; the bright energy of expressionism; and the simplicity of primitivism all combine in my unique style.”
Amanda loves the decorative nature of interior scenes as they allow her to take mundane objects out of context in order to create something beautiful that can make somebody smile. She often uses pattern-making to draw the eye into the centre of the Image and let it dart around playfully, being attracted by something different at every glance. Multiple motifs are peppered throughout her work: highly stylised furniture; a picture within a picture; a torso. Fragmented parts that on their own don’t necessarily make sense are carefully placed to create a balanced whole.
In Amanda Watt’s first ever solo show in Athens ’By Design’ celebrates two of the artist’s most well-known oeuvres: interiors and the female form, creating a show that is bold, brave and inspiring.
The exhibition title has numerous meanings. Firstly, it refers to the stunning interior scenes that made Watt a household name in 1990s California. The stylised furniture; the carefully crafted paintings within paintings; each line, colour and object specifically designed to balance the room and the painting as a whole. It also refers to the pattern- making within each piece that draws the eye and creates a dialectic between depth of perception and surface flatness.
In Watt’s ‘Relationships’ series, the ‘by design’ refers to the love, lust and need that having ‘designs’ on somebody delivers. The turmoil of emotions swirls within each painting as bodies and colours morph and change. It also references the blurring of gender, race and sexuality in each character. Every part of each person: personality;
beauty; pose, was designed this way. The bright, vibrant colours shout of femininity and joy, while the bold lines represent the confidence of the subjects in question.
Created within the last two years back in her native Ireland, with this show in mind, Watt’s paintings have taken on a new sensitivity and boldness.
