Friday, 1 November 2013

Review of Sarah Jane Moon: Portraits at 5th Base Gallery


01/11/13
Sarah Jane Moon: Portraits
5th Base Gallery
23 Heneage Street, London, E1
27 October – 2 November 2013 (extended by one day)


The current recipient of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters’ Bulldog Bursary, Sarah Jane Moon, only became an artist in recent years, after arriving in the UK from her native New Zealand (via Japan, Australia and Malaysia). Taking a Diploma in Portrait Painting at the Heatherley School of Fine Art, where many of the tutors come direct from the Slade, trained her in a traditional manner, with focus being placed on perspective, drawing, and studies from life. Even before her course was over, though, Moon was beginning to rebel, and, in working from a photograph, she flouted the rules, but, at the same time, discovered a freedom which allowed her to see the resulting work more as a whole, with equal focus on objects behind the figure, rather than just as a sketch of the figure itself. For Moon, a portrait is about much more than just the head and shoulders of the sitter: it’s about the whole body, its posture, its location, and the belongings which hold significance for this person, speaking of his or her interests and concerns. 








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