the studio 8 artists
Shirley Eccles		back to the studio 8 page

“It might be the easiest to describe myself as a conceptual mixed media artist as I work with different mediums and techniques at different times, often combining and overlapping them. I love the wonderful energy and spontaneity I get from the use of colour and oil paint, the texture and "manipulation " that clay can offer me, but at the same time I enjoy the technical challenges of the printed image or the unknown aspect of the fired article.”

“I have been working with paper porcelain for the past few years, but also find glass a very exciting and challenging medium. It has broken down the barriers between painting, printing, ceramics and sculpture. The fragile nature and ambiguity of the medium emphasizes the sensitive concepts and issues I am working with. My work has become 2D conceptual paintings / prints using a 3D material and adding to that challenge and chance due to the firing process.”

“Subconsciously I am working with the post-modernist grid. Whether it is in the square building blocks, post boxes, sewn 'curtain' or the repetition of the faces in the Kosovo children or the repetitive use of envelopes placed on a grided letter rack, the grid plays a very strong role in my work. The mediums, texture and materials I use have become metaphors for my inner experiences and silent thoughts.”

		'My House, My Castle, My Prison, My Grave' Installation UNISA Visual Gallery, Pretoria full screen
		'Kosovo Children' Printed paper porcelain and acrylic on board full screen
		'Struggle for My Soul' Paper porcelain & rusted metal letter rack full screen
		'Cries of Kosovo' animal testing cages, green turf and fired paper porcelain full screen
		'Coagulation' Wire and glass full screen