Coming from a family of three generations of architects, Amanda Wilkinson is no stranger to precision and exactitude. The tiny tolerances of product design in her own career as an industrial designer taught her not only to work with ordered control, but to follow a careful process of modelling, mockups and embracing mistakes. Now, from her home in a quiet, bush-flanked Wellington suburb, Wilkinson transfers this process and precision to art.
Largely working with acrylics on canvas, Wilkinson’s work explores depth and dimension in her ever-continuing fascination with the perception of light and shadow and the illusion of three-dimensional space. Everyday objects and locations are made all-the-more complex by the way that light falls across them, and Wilkinson enjoys the challenge of expressing this shape and form in a flat, two-dimensional medium.
“My paintings often result from experiments with physical three-dimensional models; playing with different lighting conditions and painting the shadows that result,” Wilkinson explains.
“Often I design first on paper, then refine on the computer; making card mockups to test the ideas as I go. “It takes many iterations to get to an end result that I’m happy with, and often new ideas happen by accident when I copy, paste, delete, rotate or combine layers on the computer, and new designs emerge.”
From soft natural tones to more bold uses of colour, Wilkinson’s palette varies from work-to-work. “I love how colour can make you feel, but I also love the calm that a very light, neutral artwork can create."
“I create my artworks as an outlet for all the ideas I have in my head, and hopefully to add some beauty to the world.”
You can see more of Wilkinson’s art on her new website, amandawilkinsonart.com.
Largely working with acrylics on canvas, Wilkinson’s work explores depth and dimension in her ever-continuing fascination with the perception of light and shadow and the illusion of three-dimensional space. Everyday objects and locations are made all-the-more complex by the way that light falls across them, and Wilkinson enjoys the challenge of expressing this shape and form in a flat, two-dimensional medium.
“My paintings often result from experiments with physical three-dimensional models; playing with different lighting conditions and painting the shadows that result,” Wilkinson explains.
“Often I design first on paper, then refine on the computer; making card mockups to test the ideas as I go. “It takes many iterations to get to an end result that I’m happy with, and often new ideas happen by accident when I copy, paste, delete, rotate or combine layers on the computer, and new designs emerge.”
From soft natural tones to more bold uses of colour, Wilkinson’s palette varies from work-to-work. “I love how colour can make you feel, but I also love the calm that a very light, neutral artwork can create."
“I create my artworks as an outlet for all the ideas I have in my head, and hopefully to add some beauty to the world.”
You can see more of Wilkinson’s art on her new website, amandawilkinsonart.com.
Written by George Arthur-Amohau
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