ARTIST IN RESIDENCE // Angela Stewart

Angela Stewart is a member of the ArtCollective WA and her work is currently on show in the exhibition TEN. She will be in residence in the Holmes à Court Gallery @ Vasse Felix from the 14^th November to the 2^nd December (excluding the 23^rd –28^th November).

Stewart has been interested in portraiture for the last three decades. Her drawing, painting and paint/ed photography often make stylistic and thematic reference to the Italian Renaissance historical portraits and the transition of the fresco to easel painting. By studying the work of Sixteenth century Italian painter Sofonisba Anguissola, Stewart became fascinated by the complexity and etiquette of painting by a woman of this age. Her desire was to roll back the veneer of the finished artwork and to imagine signs of hesitation and mistakes to unlace the becoming of a portrait. This notion of ‘artistic doubt’ has since had an influence on Stewart’s more recent oeuvre.

Over time, the rendering of her line and brushwork has dissolved to increasingly reveal materiality and process. With oval and circular frames, she examines traditional elements such as the cameo or motifs of flora and fauna in landscape and from costumes in portraits.