Energy from Entropy Original by Zara Gabriel
Acrylic and wood
8x8 Inches
When thinking of time, my thoughts were instantly drawn to mortality, specifically the ticking of the clock that is in your head when living with a life limiting condition, that sense of time slipping away but also the need to make the time you have count. I began creating this piece with the intention of painting bodies with decay, but the work gradually formed into something far less morbid and dark as it often does with me.
I began painting blossoms alongside the cracked, breaking bodies, my thoughts travelling to growth and new life, the circle of life and time constantly evolving, bodies returning to earth, feeding the blossoms just bursting to emerge. I look at this piece and I see beauty in the sadness, something that I often feel is true when dealing with illness or disability, the knowledge of your own mortal limits but seeing the beauty of it anyway.
Art and creativity have always been prevalent in my life but it has only been in the last few years, since my children have grown up, that I really began to explore and discover my own practice.
Taking inspiration from my own experiences with death, illness, loss and disability and using a multitude of mediums, I draw on my life as a disabled artist living with a life limiting condition to create paintings, sculptures and installations.
Texture and colour play an integral part in my process, I strive to see the complexities of an extraordinary world with an unconventional eye.
I often make use of found materials, transforming what would normally become landfill into something that awakens emotions and encourages alternative interpretations. Combining the found objects and materials with clay, textiles, paint and other media allows me to develop my work with a sense of freedom and abandonment that is therapeutic and enlightening.
The use of sound and image in conjunction with my sculptural creations and photography allows me to attempt to fully immerse the viewer in an eclectic world of atmospheric tension.www.instagram.com/zara.gabriel.artist/
