Artist Statement
Gillian Coulton’s artistic practice primarily deals with memory and the ways in which our emotions can connect themselves to and alter our perceptions of the landscapes which we have inhabited. Stylistically the artist’s work focuses on realism as a means of conveying an idea of potential (but undefined) narrative and place, in combination with compositions which bring a certain strangeness through unnatural size, perspective, superimposition of elements, and expressive uses of paint.
Their work is guided and shaped by research into both the psychological understanding of how memory functions, and the ways memory is connected to landscape in contemporary art. The work Coulton creates connects their own experiences embodied through the rural landscape where they grew up, creating a sense of place through isolation and materials. Coulton’s work tries to represent memory in a way that encourages the audience to consider their own perception of memory, while still being unavoidably personal.