ArtLab is pleased to be offering new works by the artists Sarah Jeffries and Benet Spencer.

Benet Spencer has nominated two works, Angel Town and Modern Church II, both of which can be viewed on his artist's page.  These works continue to explore Spencer's interest in the urban environment.  Although humans are absent from these works, both portend to human activity in their depictions of angular and almost overwhelming constructions that are evocative of a modern metropolis.  The structures are situated within a highly structured series of lines and shapes that sharply divide the canvas and converge to create further geometric structures and networks that continue to speak of a city landscape.

Sarah Jeffries has revised the body of works available through ArtLab and submitted seven paintings executed from 2007 onwards, all of which are on Jeffries' artist's page.  We took the opportunity to discuss these works with Jeffries to mark their release:

ArtLab: You source your imagery through an amalgamation of found images - is the process of finding these sources as important to your practice as executing the work?

Sarah Jeffries: It is very important.  I browse through aspirational fashion and interior magazines just as anyone would in their leisure but I'm picking out elements and combining things that would not usually be found together. I create collage studies using colour paper, photographic images and acrylic paint, this leaves me with a weird tonal mix to paint from and is the core idea.

AL: The figures in your interior paintings have a dominant presence and command the viewer's attention, whereas outside they are lost and lack authority.  How significant is the relationship between figure and setting in your work?

SJ: Well nature, in the end, is more powerful than the human.  Interiors are completely controlled by its inhabitant but when individuals are placed in an unspoilt wilderness they are inevitably at the mercy of nature.  I'm interested in seeing how the figure can look almost swallowed up by landscape and how the trappings of modern life can look absurd in totally natural environments.  

AL: Finally, do you use setting as a device to create a relationship between the painting and the viewer?

SJ:  When I use one figure in a scene, there will be an encounter between them and the viewer creating an air of intimacy.  Each viewer is free to have a personal reaction to individual scenarios.  I feel that this is an important aspect of my work and this relationship creates a personal attachment with the piece.

Image: Sarah Jeffries, 'Cheek Chic' (available here)