Stephanie Fawbert

I began to use watercolour on large scale paintings when I was at art school. I developed a technique of saturating the paper with colour in a series of large (up to 5ft x 7ft) sleeping and meditating faces which featured in my final show. These techniques have continued through various themes of my work: flower paintings, installations exploring sexual attraction and work with musicians to create abstract interpretations of music.

I had a long break in my practice in 1996 and worked in development in Africa and the UK. In 2005, after the birth of my son, and then daughter, I resumed painting, responding to the Sussex countryside around me. My current work is looking at childhood. This new work looks at children at play and especially at their interaction with animals. Children have an atavistic need to conjure up a world of warriors on horseback, of magic powers and mastery over monsters. Children’s playgrounds are therefore inhabited by fibreglass dragons, rocking elephants and flying horses. I am exploring this intense identification with both real and fantastical animals. Using watercolour, often in soft sepias and muted greys the work has both nostalgia and something darker. I want to probe into this childish need to connect with ancient archetypes and I am quietly thrilled by the fact that on some level it is still utterly relevant to our adult lives.

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