A moment never lasts, it is here for us to take.
To hold, to let go.
To imprint, behind our eyes, to burn, into our souls.
To remember, for an instant. To forget, in another.
One moment. Here… And then… it’s gone.
Such is the immanent conceptulisation expressed in Amanda Rackowe’s work. Her exploration of the transcient interchange of human existence at specific moments in time ushers us into an ambiance of semi-surreality, where her images slide between figuration and abstraction.
This sometimes inchoatic ambiance reflects her concerns with the fragility of instant and space and their transient imbrication. Unconcious crossovers of lives and memories exist in scenes where the viewer is present, but rarely involved. This torpid and involutary invasion, albeit a physical infringement, becomes fragmented. There is no insight, no new révélation, into the ego or inner conciousness of one or the other.
Working in multiple layers of paint, using washes and glazes, the artist builds a richness and depth of colour, purposefully encouraging the spontaneous marks and runs of paint that breathe life into her work, echoing the determined and the haphazard possiblities of life’s (in)exhaustable journey.
Her palette is dominated by an underlying primary red, a nod to the earth’s hot core. Her choice of colour moves within tones of blues, turquoises and crimsons to deep ochres and yellows. Whilst her love of colour is obvious, her fascination with light is also evident in all her work.
Standing in front of her work one is solicited to examine and question the seemingly banal experiences of life.
Amanda Rackowe principally lives and works in the Dordogne in the south west of France and divides her time between there and her beloved Île d’Oleron off the coast of La Rochelle.
Her work features regularly in exhibitions throughout France and is widely collected in Europe, the United States and Australia.
