Fiona Long Art

As I walk around the streets of London, on my way to college or work and when I’m out and about, going to galleries I see art everywhere. It may not be art to anyone else as it isn’t obviously beautiful, it isn’t made by an artist and it isn’t in a gallery, but I keep seeing elements of aesthetic quality and beauty wherever I look. I intend to explore the beauty of what many see as ugly, imperfect elements of our urban environment. Just as Ellsworth Kelly finds inspiration from architectural forms and abstracts from them, I plan to abstract from scenes of urban decay and create art works of aesthetic quality. I am going to make a series of paintings using unusual materials such as concrete (inspired my Anselm Kiefer) and liquid bitumen (from Antoni Tapies’ work). I also intend to use the powerful imagery of the slashed canvas as created by Lucio Fontana. I may simulate sewing this up using barbed wire. Mimmo Rotella was interested in the field of daily urban life which made him the great "unveiler" of the skin of our cities' walls. I intend to draw inspiration from his peeling poster artworks and create some versions of my own. Panamarenko seems to work from a similar place, where everything is devised from ideas and materials at hand. For this reason I will keep my mind relatively open because my final work will be influenced by the materials that I find and by the experiments I have undertaken. I will also look at the work of Arte Povera influenced artist Anita Gibson and investigate using rusting metal objects on my canvasses. I will also collect debris from the streets of London and create a sculptural installation made from these found objects and strategically pour concrete over sections of it to represent the reabsorption of refuse into the urban environment. I have always been interested in refuse and the things that people throw away because my father was a consultant in waste disposal and my first job was as an environmental technician, topographically surveying landfill sites. I will research my paintings using photography of urban decay and found art that I discover on my daily travels, pigeons on broken railings, plastic bags in trees, peeling posters and paint, and industrial structures. I will draw from these sources and abstract from them using materials to denote urban decay. I will carry out experiments to fully explore these new materials.

These works explore themes of connectivity, the Collective Unconscious, Morphic Resonance, memories and memorial. Some of the ideas are based on the book “The White Hotel” by D.M. Thomas.

Here are my abstract works. I'm in no hurry to push going into abstract. It is something that is happening gradually and naturally and of course, some are more successful than others.

Here are my still life paintings of flowers and fruit. I love the beauty and vibrancy of nature especially it's colours. I often like to incorporate the essence of the plant into the painting by mixing the seeds into the paint which creates a delightful texture and talking point. I have devised and tested a special techinque of incorporating the seeds so that they remain in tact and the painting is strong for many many years to come.

I am a great animal lover and therefore thoroughly enjoy painting animals. Do contact me if you would be interested in commissioning a pet portrait.