Alison Hand - Statement

Alison Hand

In this series of paintings, I am concerned with ideas of regeneration; idealist visions of social transformation through Architecture. The role of both Art and Architecture is presently used as a force which can almost 'save' an area which needs 'regenerating'. We seem to be much relying on the regenerative power of Art and Architecture purely in terms of their effect, which then begs the question, does this empty works of their own autonomous meaning, if they are solely there to regenerate a community, and therefore, of course, have to prove their economic worth? This contemporary perception of the transformative role of Art and Architecture informs my paintings, and they take on the role of pretence, by locating themselves in the language of the Architectural 'drawing', which allows me to exploit the propensity these 'drawings' have to exaggerate perspective, creating a 'wow factor', and present an idealistic, Utopian vision of a space, and the human interaction within it, which, in practice, is often not the case. In fact, there is a relationship between visual plans for regeneration projects and a 'corporate' aesthetic, in that often the former looks more like a business park than a place for living. The works are painted onto Acetate in 'reverse', so any physicality of paint is trapped behind an overall sheen, which has a relationship to photography, and is a seductive surface, implying artificiality, and the role of 'chance' is involved in making the work, so I have a relationship with the work which includes an element of surprise. I can then adopt a playful attitude with the images, creating impossible scenarios; their size being an advantage in both the suspension of belief, and their physical manipulation. I paint from 'CAD' generated images of ideas for regeneration projects, mixed with scenes of 'social housing' projects, creating impossible perspectives; worlds that have never been realized, so the paintings become in part memorials to lost ideas, part highlighting a certain impossibility of total transformation, and the inherent human need to imagine Utopia.