about


	KEREN COOK Recent works pay tribute to historic sites, specific places and communities within Europe . I work to communicate layers of meaning seen in the paintings through the re-telling of the 'Diaspora' story. The visual language acts as a metaphor to provoke thought around traditions, tensions and minority discomforts. Its many meanings are articulated through rich surface, unexpected fields of colour, spatial interruptions, juxtapositions and painted contrasts.
I explore the essence of the idea, often working until the underlying structure is revealed. The paintings derive from topographical maps and architectural line drawings. These provide a starting point for composition and narrative. I am interested in how the original forms relate to each other and how they will sit within the painted space. In particular, I strive to make sense of these forms and how they work in an abstract way to the ideas of migration and dispersion. The paintings suggest rather than describe overlapping layers of existence. In an architectural sense, I physically build and re-form forgotten places, dimensions, experiences and memories of places and people. Throughout the painting I manipulate, expose and configure the essential components that contribute to the normal needs and functions of a community. These include the siting of private dwellings, schools, shops and the work place. The paintings celebrate the longevity of buildings, spaces and explore the idea of a specific site and its many functions. Many of the works reference building, canals, waterways, boats, bridges, walls and architectural details. The density of each site is preserved in the paintings. Spaces are suggested and the viewer can be drawn into obscure, claustrophobic passages that suddenly open up to large areas of light. The paintings pay homage to the politics of personal and public space. The abstract juxtapositions of joists, walls, positive and negative spaces draw the viewer to transformations of architecture. The interior spaces depict low ceilings and small, cramped living quarters. The paintings depict subsiding exteriors, concealed windows, entrances and rooflines. These elements exposed remind us of an inhabited past, and a new present - a continued re-cycling around arrival and departure. I work to recall and redress experiences and memories of a community not forgotten. The site becomes a process for re-invention - a modern day memorandum. The painting has a life of its own achieved through the persistent layering and masking of form, shadow and colour.

KEREN COOK
Recent works pay tribute to historic sites, specific places and communities within Europe . I work to communicate layers of meaning seen in the paintings through the re-telling of the 'Diaspora' story. The visual language acts as a metaphor to provoke thought around traditions, tensions and minority discomforts. Its many meanings are articulated through rich surface, unexpected fields of colour, spatial interruptions, juxtapositions and painted contrasts.

I explore the essence of the idea, often working until the underlying structure is revealed. The paintings derive from topographical maps and architectural line drawings. These provide a starting point for composition and narrative. I am interested in how the original forms relate to each other and how they will sit within the painted space. In particular, I strive to make sense of these forms and how they work in an abstract way to the ideas of migration and dispersion. The paintings suggest rather than describe overlapping layers of existence. In an architectural sense, I physically build and re-form forgotten places, dimensions, experiences and memories of places and people. Throughout the painting I manipulate, expose and configure the essential components that contribute to the normal needs and functions of a community. These include the siting of private dwellings, schools, shops and the work place. The paintings celebrate the longevity of buildings, spaces and explore the idea of a specific site and its many functions. Many of the works reference building, canals, waterways, boats, bridges, walls and architectural details. The density of each site is preserved in the paintings. Spaces are suggested and the viewer can be drawn into obscure, claustrophobic passages that suddenly open up to large areas of light.

The paintings pay homage to the politics of personal and public space. The abstract juxtapositions of joists, walls, positive and negative spaces draw the viewer to transformations of architecture. The interior spaces depict low ceilings and small, cramped living quarters. The paintings depict subsiding exteriors, concealed windows, entrances and rooflines. These elements exposed remind us of an inhabited past, and a new present - a continued re-cycling around arrival and departure. I work to recall and redress experiences and memories of a community not forgotten.

The site becomes a process for re-invention - a modern day memorandum. The painting has a life of its own achieved through the persistent layering and masking of form, shadow and colour.