Toni Messiter 'Don't let her in'

Drawing from the aesthetics of 18th Century portraiture and in particular, familial portraits, Toni Messiter’s paintings embody modern baroque haunting.

There is a stylistic affinity for theatrics, which dramatically unfold as ruminations on human psychology and subconscious; presenting subjects that border upon absurdity and delight, provocation and enchantment.

For her new series Don’t Let Her In, the works embrace and celebrate girlhood and the concept of age rather than its denial, depicting fragments of memory, characters and episodes of my past.

I am inspired by classical painting and portraiture, feelings of ambiguity, light and shadow. I am particularly interested in enigmatic compositions, raising questions between reality and illusion and creating a sense of uncertainty between the viewer and the figures depicted. I am interested in this dialogue of ‘who is looking at who’ between the audience and the painted subjects, which for me is tied up in my own reflection of my past; of me looking at these characters I’ve painted, and their gaze looking back at me. I feel an immediacy in their observation and strong sense of attachment to them, yet also I am an outsider to the canvas. It’s as if my painted characters challenge and speak to me, the creator and in turn the viewer. It is a kaleidoscope of memory, portraits of the past or the framing of a life, but at the same time questions of who is looking at who in the paintings confuse interpretation and subjectivity.

Opening Celebration: Saturday, 19 October 3-5pm