Statement

Using pastels on paper Lorraine Fernie creates images of single female figures.

The emphasis on weight, mass and movement in space make it immediately obvious that she has worked as a sculptor.

These figures, created from her imagination, are monumental and tactile with enormous energy and their own inner life.

History

My training was in Bauhaus-type problem solving and abstraction along with traditional painting and drawing from life. My main interest has always been in making images of human beings.

After graduation I started to carve in wood. Some of these sculptures were also functional objects but all grew out of an interest in the human figure.

Guardian

Holly wood and household paint
120x18cm
1982

Gift Givers

Boxwood and enamel paint
33x5cm
1983

View of Workshop

1983

In 1985 I changed to working with clay because it is a wonderfully malleable material. I made free-standing pots and then sculptures but many of my works at this time were modeled in relief and made to hang on walls.

Female Figure

Carbon-stained stoneware
60x50cm
1991

Ophelia

Unglazed stoneware
100x40cm
1990

Reluctant Phoenix

Carbon-stained stoneware
90x40cm
1992

In 1997 to gain more control over the colours than is possible when using traditional glazing techniques I began to paint my fired figures with acrylic paint.

Female

White stoneware, acrylic paint, plaster of paris
66x36cmcm
2000

Female

White stoneware, acrylic paint, plaster of paris
66x36cmcm
2000

Female

White stoneware, acrylic paint, plaster of paris
66x36cmcm
2000

I have now returned to making two-dimensional work. These pictures are made with pencil, charcoal and pastels combined with lines which are incised into the surface of the paper. Starting from an initial idea or pose, I work and re-work each image changing the layout, and the balance of the forms to achieve a clear, human structure.

Studio View

2021

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