"This injury has been the defining feature of my life for the past three years, tempting every decision I make," says acclaimed Australian artist Spirovski ahead of her comeback show.
ADVERTISEMENTAfter a health-induced hiatus in 2022 stemming from a lifelong neurological condition affecting her ability to paint with her arms, Australian artist Loribelle Spirovski has made her triumphant return to the art world by taking over London's HOFA Gallery.
From 24 November to 6 December, Spirovski is taking centre stage at the Mayfair-based gallery, with her critically acclaimed exhibition, Homme, which showcases her distinctive figurative realist and abstract expressionist style.
“This injury has been the defining feature of my life for the past three years, tempting every decision I make. So much melancholy in the show is a projection of my own resignation and hopelessness. It is a lifelong condition and I have to find ways of adapting my life and art practice to accommodate for it - like a tenant who shares my body." says Spirovski.
The Homme collection delves into the contradictions and conflicts of human consciousness, with a focus on the eyes as the most defined feature.
The eyes, surrounded in minimalist outlines and emphatic brushstrokes, invite viewers to look beyond the chaotic appearance of the subjects and connect with their veiled and perhaps troubled souls.
Below is a Q&A session featuring insights from the artist herself.
What's the title of your upcoming show and what's it about?
Spirovski: The current working title is Homme.
Reflecting on the past 6 years of the Homme series, this show plays with the visual language that I've come to develop, to present a meditative collection of figurative abstractions.
Is there a central theme(s) and how did it come about? What inspired it?
The Homme series has become one of the most recognisable facets of my artistic output, and I'm very grateful for what the series has taught me.
The female gaze on the male subject is at the core of this series, and this has always been inspired by my relationship with my husband.
For much of his life, he's walked the line between a private self, and the public face of a performer (he is a concert pianist), and the Homme began as little sketches that I did while waiting backstage as he performed. They became unconscious musings of the lone performer, exposed and anonymous.
Have you incorporated any new tools, media or techniques into your work?
I have been playing with Procreate, and Photoshop, as well as Stable Diffusion and Airbrushing.
ADVERTISEMENTThe past few years have been tough for you and it's great to see you creating and showing your art despite the difficulties. How has this experience inspired or influenced your work and upcoming show?
The full impact of the injury and chronic pain is impossible to really put in words. I went somewhere very dark and vulnerable. But art has always been how I've understood the world, how I process thoughts and emotions, how I've communicated with others (and myself).
Coming out the other end, I am in a meditative and minimalist state of mind, which is reflected in the work I am creating for this show.
Homme - from 24 November to 6 December, at London's HOFA Gallery.
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