Rachel Mercer

Stooping

Jackson's Art Prize 2026
Oil
Canvas, Paper
63 x 51 cm

£3,500

“In the summer of 2024, while on a residency in Tuscany. I drew farmers in polytunnels  I worked directly from observation. I was interested in capturing the  vitality and immediacy of figures as they worked within the environment. Moving subjects, the changing of weather and places in flux are subjects that I find most exhilarating. The quick drawings made on location subsequently inform paintings like this one made in the studio. The figure is seen but part remembered.  Choppy visible brushstrokes  echo the movement of the figure, the paint is scrapped and wiped, sometimes thin, with moments of impasto. Through improvisation, wiping, smearing, rubbing, and overlaying, I am physically grappling with forms on the canvas and this yields both formal and emotional insights.  Colours might become abstracted within the picture generating new rhythms and sensations. The painting becomes a multitude of experiences, moving towards something that feels more essential and timeless rather than a particular moment.”