Vantage Point: Paintings by Sally Davies

Sally Davies paints the human figure from dramatic vantage points and plays with light and shadows to create a strong emotional impact, drawing the viewer into the unfolding narrative.  Like the 19th century French Impressionists, she captures moments in time; a commuter biking home, a mother and child crossing a busy street, a skateboarder doing kick-flips, or ballet dancers rehearsing. With minimal architectural details, she leaves a mystery for the individual viewer to infer a sense of place and feel a common bond of humanity. 

In her backgrounds, Davies paints delicate organic patterns in fluid acrylic and layers them on her canvas, building up subtle textures.  Her use of fluid acrylic creates a surface that is unique to each painting.  Davies layers paint to juxtapose color and pattern as a way to influence the perception of movement.  She designs dynamic compositions with a dramatic play of light and shadow that enhance this fleeting moment in time.

A number of paintings in this exhibit highlight Maryland Hall's vivid theatre life.  Davies sat high up in the balcony at Maryland Hall to sketch and observe, and was inspired to capture the drama and excitement of the ballet on stage here. 

Sally Davies creates time-lapse videos of her paintings as part of her artistic process to document the evolution of her paintings from sketches to final artwork. 

These videos can be seen at: www.sallyjkdavies.wixsite.com/sallydaviespaintings/time-lapse

Located in the Openshaw Balcony Gallery, 3rd Floor