Emma Visca – ‘The Naked Painter’
My art represents my own self and where I fit in the world. It has become the journey of my life story. If you follow my art and the order in which they were painted, you can see my life come through. The times I have loved and lost, cried and laughed. My art for the past several years has focused on expression, in expression you need freedom to say and do what you feel deep inside and when I paint I do fall deep into the canvas and allow the brush to make its own movements. My art becomes the map of my life. Finding myself in this map and who I am as an artist… I am still discovering this myself without a map often taking the wrong road or perhaps the right one to find my completeness. Maybe I will never be complete maybe my place will be forever changing. My work continues to focus on nudes and that has remained my chosen subject, more so when I became ill and had to have an operation. Following this I saw my body as distorted and ugly I would use my naked self and stand in front of a mirror painting as a healing process, my art, my place in the art world then began slowly moving towards abstract expressionism. I have continued this style to the present day.
I love the idea of imperfection.
Imperfection 1 imperfectness 2 fault, blemish
1 deficiency, inadequacy, incompleteness
2 blemish, defect, deficiency, error, failing, fault, flaw, foible, frailty, infirmity, peccadillo, shortcoming,weakness.
John Ruskin wrote ‘imperfection is in some sort essential to all that we know of life. It is the sign of life in a mortal body, that is to say, of a state of progress and change. Nothing that lives is, or can be, rigidly perfect; part of it is decaying, part nascent…….. And in all things that live there are certain irregularities and deficiencies which are not only signs of life, but sources of beauty. No human face is exactly the same in its lines on each side, no leaf perfect in its lobes, no branch in its symmetry. All admit irregularity as they imply change; and to banish imperfection is to destroy expression, to check exertion, to paralyze vitality. All things are literally better, lovelier, and more beloved for the imperfections which have been divinely appointed, that the law of human life may be Effort, and the law of human judgment, Mercy’.
This was my moment of clarity. Reading this quote allowed me to let go and not have pre-conceived ideas of what is expected as an artist. It also forced me to regard beauty in a different way, seeing it in new forms and new places. My Art is imperfect. My body imperfect. My life…. I love to play around with my art and use my own naked body to project images, poses, feelings, thoughts onto the canvas. I love to lose myself to art. I use it as an escape from the everyday 9-5. My art allows me to become someone different, someone that is looser, more passionate, not as reserved. Music is a major stimulus and with the volume turned up and the outside world shut out I am free to let go, embrace my imperfections and create. I like to think that people can see a piece of me, look at my art and feel the same things that I feel. I hope that my art provides a window into my true inner self. It’s up to you whether you choose to catch a glimpse from across the street or press your nose against the glass for a closer look! Read Less
Location: Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, United Kingdom
Social Media: Â www.twitter.com/emma_visca
Education: George Street School of Art, Dumfries 1996, University of Strathclyde 2002, University of Strathclyde 2006, University of the West of Scotland 2008