‘HOPE; Revisited.’ A solo exhibition at the Fishslab Gallery, Whitstable by Amanda Jane Godley
My work is a documentary of a journey to find the essence of my soul– it is a way of making sense of my inner world in relation to the world around me. I like to play with colour, contrasting and clashing, creating an energy that draws the eye around and around the images. I get involved in the minute detail of the patterns that are ever repeating and circular in shape and with each new mandala that captures this detail it brings something different. Sometimes through the shape of the mandala, I think about and make sense of fragmentation and endeavour to reframe it in a more digestible way.
Other forms that appear describe other ways of thinking-like the “pecking parrots” series where critical thought is interpreted through the abstracted imagery of parrots, or the “Squares” series where boundaries are explored. I also try to make sense of life and death, family and bereavement, struggling to come to terms with love and loss of 3 family members and the challenges that drug, and alcohol addiction and poor mental health can bring upon those around us. Through the work in this exhibition, I endeavour to look for and bring hope.
More recently I have undertaken several self-portraits through which I have been searching for my inner self and found a very intense and serious side to myself. Observers suggested that I should smile in the images, but this has been an extremely challenging thing for me to do while concentrating on the image making and the outcome of the portraits has a somewhat haunting effect.
I use mostly gouache and watercolour on watercolour paper. More recently I have been experimenting with larger work as well as acrylic gouache where the vibrancy and solidity of the matt paint effect suits my way of working.
Contact E: amandagodley@icloud.com; T: 07812 729123 IG: @nutcase10