Vanessa Mitter

Hysteria

Jackson's Painting Prize 2022
Oil
Canvas
150 x 120 cm

“In her paintings, Vanessa Mitter is interested in interrogating the history, particularly, of Expressionist painting and of the gesture. The making is very physical. The canvas is moved around, laid on the floor, then the wall, often remade or scored over, obliterated and then painted over again. Often, paintings are buried underneath other paintings. There is a narrative being referenced, but it is often hidden and autobiographical. Mitter uses layers of paint and collage, overlaid then with pen and oil stick. The making is instinctive and accident driven, often teetering on the edge of what she believes is abject failure. This tightrope is important. The painting has its own life, leads the way. Mitter views this as a process of alchemy; a transformative process.”