Arcadia

Overview

Deborah Poynton’s monumental yet intimately rendered paintings place contemporary figures in classical poses and dramatic light. Often painting from a standpoint that appears surrounded by nature, she explores our relationship to the environment through her expansive pastoral scenes, conditioned by landscape painting and still life traditions as well as the philosophy of stoicism.

Arcadia (2011) is an installation comprising eleven large paintings, two of which are on exhibit at Al Hamriyah Studios. Narrow in scope, these two panels offer a close look into a verdant landscape without a horizon. Under a liminal half-light, the two paintings portray an idyllic time when humans lived at one with nature. The title makes reference to the Arcadian paintings of French Baroque artists such as Poussin, whose landscapes were ‘invented’ arrangements of subject, light and perspective. In this vein, Poynton’s works reflect the thoroughly mediated aspect of painting, in which every mark passes through the human hand. From wherever we stand, these cumulative gestures bring us ever closer to our yearning to grasp an ungraspable world.

This project was part of Sharjah Biennial 13.