London-based artist Sarah Harvey submerges figures in pools of water in her ongoing series of oil paintings. The glistening, multifaceted images have a beautiful and abstract quality to them. Our vantage point is above the liquid, and this has a great affect on how we see Harvey’s subjects. Hands, legs, feet, and hair often appear as fleeting, unrecognizable shapes that are obscured by swirls and ripples.
Harvey’s paintings were originally inspired by a green swimming pool she discovered when traveling to Italy in 2003. Now, they’re based on photographs that she directed and then manipulated. These works are not only abstract in their style, but Harvey intends them to conjure a myriad of feelings and emotions. She explains in an artist statement, “I aim to create paintings that arouse both a sense of well being and pleasure, whilst simultaneously suggesting notions of insecurity, fantasy and sexuality.”
A selection of Harvey’s work is on view at Collectors Contemporary until the end of April.
