Artist Statement (May, 2012.)

“The medium that I work in is dictated by the ideas that I have. The relationship between my ideas and the materials that I chose to use, is very important. In the last few years, I have worked predominantly with pastels, although it is one of the most permanent mediums, it is also the most fragile.

My previous work, explored through the human figure, the theme of “Lovers”. The familiarity and closeness of lovers or that chance meeting which turns a stranger into a lover. The powder pigments of pastels had a similar quality to the idea of “lovers” — both hover between being there and not being there. (Series of nudes from 2009 – 2012)

Pastels are a beautiful medium to work with, although they don’t have the material certainty of oil paints. Pastels can mirror the fragility of objects, flowers being blown by the wind, show both strength and fragility. This fragility of the petals is perhaps best captured in pastel; it’s almost as if you could blow them both away, like dust in the desert. “Strength and Fragility of flowers, (series of flora, 2012)”

Sally Trueman