The Sculptural Paintings of Vicky Wright

Vicky Wright was born in 1967 in Bolton, UK. She went to school studying textiles at John Moores University in Liverpool, and the RCA London. She also studied fine art at Goldsmiths College London (Liverpool Museums, web). As an artist, Vicky Wright has shown her paintings in many galleries, including those in London, Munich, Vienna, New York, and Lithuania. Her body of work seems to have a sculptural element, whether the painting itself is an actual sculpture, or the piece is a painting with sculptural qualities. I find the latter more interesting. Her achievement of turning a painting into a sculpture is captivating. I am most attracted to her series that began with Extraction I. This piece is a reversed canvas with abstract painting on the back. She explains this piece in her artist’s statement from the Liverpool Museums article:

Extraction 1 forms part of a series of reversed canvases that propose a hidden story, not confined to our past colonial abuses, but to an equally stark future in which Western interests operate covertly to maintain control of vast mineral wealth, obscured by almost complete silence. Portraiture of the 18th century is seen by many as a golden period within British art; but without the capitalist patrons, arguably such works would not have existed.The human cost of this art seems not to be part of our consciousness. Like an unspeakable truth, or a disgraced family member.

The extraction series could be looked at as paintings of sculptures, while they themselves look like sculptures because of the way that they are done. Being paintings of sculptures coincides with Wright’s interest in portraiture, the painting of a face. Going off of her statement, this series seems to be portraiture with the absence of the person. The paintings of this series also seem to be extensions of the canvas and wood that they are on. Wright paints on the back of the canvas and extends her painting beyond the canvas, like it is spilling off. She uses neutral colors which bring the wood of the canvas into the piece even more. 

Wright talks about the Extraction series as a whole with [SPACE] in reference to her MA show that included sculptural pieces that hung on the walls:

That was the origin of this work – the sculptural element was the substrata for these things to manifest themselves, but eventually I wanted to come up with a concept that would initiate that sculpture and find what the inception point would be for that. I’ve decided that the frame itself has become that object, and is reversed so that I can talk about its object-hood and the paintings that exist within it. The physical elements that you are talking about with my MA show were talking about a pacified object – something inert – but I am hoping that this is now more active as a concept.

I feel that this series is much more interesting than her sculpture pieces. Anyone can make a sculpture, but turning a painting into a sculpture is more of a challenge. Her painting technique causes the end result to be something that seems just as visceral as a sculpture. Other pieces, such as those of the Guardian series (Josh Lilley Gallery, web), seem to have more of a portrait feel to them. In these, she mostly sticks with neutrals while bringing in various red and blue shades. The painting portion of the piece starts to resemble the shape of a face. Also, Maniae I (Saatchi Online, web) in particular looks like it has gold leaf on it, which adds ornamentation to the piece that would have been present in portraiture of the past. 

The visceral aspect of Wright’s work is what is most captivating to me. I am amazed that she can take something so abstract and make it into something that I would view as a living thing. Her technique is something that I wish to explore in my future paintings. 

Extraction I

Maniae I

Guardian XXXVI

Works Cited

"Liverpool Museums - 'Extraction 1', Vicky Wright." Liverpool Museums - National Museums      Liverpool. Walker Art Gallery. Web. 02 Nov. 2011. <http:// www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/johnmoores/25/exhibitors/vicky_wright.aspx>.

"[ SPACE ] / Interview with Vicky Wright." [ SPACE ] / Home. Web. 02 Nov. 2011. <http:// www.spacestudios.org.uk/space/artist-stories/interview-with-vicky-wright>.

Wright, Vicky. Extraction I. 2007. Liverpool Museums. Liverpool Museums. Web. 2 Nov. 2011.

Wright, Vicky. Maniae I. 2008. Saatchi Online. Web. 2 Nov. 2011.

Wright, Vicky. Guardian XXXVI. 2010. Josh Lilley Gallery. Josh Lilley. Web. 2 Nov. 2011.