These paintings and drawings explore the potential for spookiness and uneasiness that exists within the everyday in common dwellings and houses.  The ability for the Other to exist in the ordinary through fantasy, hauntings, memory and dreams, sometimes recalled from my own memories and relationship to similar urban houses, are represented in these works. With thin layers of ink and oil wash built up on canvas or smooth board, I aim to create an awkward tension between the ambiguous and clear.  The image takes on clarity with engagement, and an object of nostalgia alludes to something present that is perhaps dark and sinister.  The use of colour, small scale and subtle tones draws the viewer, similar to an open door in a neighbourhood house, inviting and homely, which is then undermined on further engagement; perspective is altered, dwellings loom, details such as windows and doors appear to dominate in detail, holding the observer at bay.  The “window on the world” is intended in my work more as a reflection, as a window on a rainy day that reflects as much detail from inside, as it reveals beyond. I recall imagery from memory, which then prompts me to seek houses and more images for the source of my painting and drawing.  Often it comes from my own photographic documentation of homes in small rural towns and taken whilst on urban walks.  Imagery and inspiration is also found in horror films, archival documentation, old postcards, and all forms of printed matter where photographs of houses are included.  This form is becoming increasingly important for me as an exterior story can be discovered, which affects the outcomes.  In transforming and altering the original through my painting, I aim to change the context, where, for example, an ominous house from a Hitchcock film is altered, and a beautiful, contemplative image is created, yet within the shadows, layering and composition, something of that source hopefully remains.

BORN
1980 Queenlsand
EDUCATION
2002 Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons), National Art School, Sydney
PRIZES
2011 Finalist, Paddington Art Prize
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2004 Forth Floor Gallery, Amelia Disspain
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2009 Chalk Horse Gallery, Sydney NSW
2007 Gosford Regional Art Gallery, NSW, Emerging
2006 Mary Place Gallery, Sydney NSW
2003 Australian Galleries Works on Paper, Sydney NSW

http://mickthegallery.com/assets/CV-Amelia-Disspain.pdf

Australian Art Review | September 2012
Daily Imprint | October 2012

For more information about this artist or artwork, contact us at art@mickthegallery.com