S/T, Series: ‘The dying of the light’

Thanks for your comment, Uji Venkat.

You are right. I'm interested in the encounter between two opposing connotations in a work of art, which could be summed up in light and dark. In the works you can see danger and tragedy, but also a hope, a calm. I like to play with that ambiguity when working.

I understand the artistic experience as a means able to lighten the weight of the mystery that surrounds life. Therefore, the reference to the world of dreams seems very interesting because it emphasizes the connection between the visible and the invisible. The works leave you with the question Is it real what I'm seeing or is a fictional scene? I invite the viewer to travel through the universe where the boundaries between the space of the real and the imaginary have disappeared to be the viewer who peek into the unfathomable enigma.

Sheila, I love the pieces from your latest series, “Projected Reflections.” You have expanded your investigation more into the dark. I’m also seeing more of the enclosed spaces and how light is filtered within them. I like that your work has further developed the idea that art is able to, as you said, “lighten the weight of the mystery that surrounds life” because your structures have become more defined. The physical restrictions appear to be more in the direction of realism than some of your previous pieces and I can very much still see the theme of a guiding light as a relief from hardship and difficulty.

Did you intend to work towards realism with physically constrained spaces? Even if these spaces are fictional, they are widely relatable emotionally, if not physically. I personally have a stronger connection to the stresses in my life and the spaces I seek release.

A claustrophobia, being boxed in, evokes an emotional connection to your work. It triggers an almost physical response, derived from memories and associations with the architecture in similar spaces. I strongly feel that your pieces present the viewers with the same challenges they face when they approach dilemmas in their own lives. They have the choice to proceed with hope or with fear. Wandering into the future, the unknown, is perhaps more about our approach than what lies there in actuality. Conceivably, the structures are constructs and limitations we have built.

I am enamored of the stark lined enclosures and refracted light. Most of your pieces utilize a cool color scheme, but I am most intrigued by the reddish and purple undertones in the lighting of a few of your pieces, especially the 150 x 180 cm piece from Projected Reflections, that is currently your cover picture. They instill a subtle but evident warmth and faith. Amongst the chaos I feel a sense of reassurance.

Thank you very much for your words, Uji Venkat. When you are so focused on your own project there may be many things that escape you. For that reason it is always appreciated an opinion of others to continue working on it, and in this case, your words are very wise. I thank you for your sincerity and offer me your own vision.

Hi Sheila. Can you tell me about the extension of the projected reflections series that you recently posted? It seems that you’ve started employing more ambiguous strokes.

I’ve said a lot about what your work means to me but I’d love to know where you are coming from. Does my response differ greatly from your intention? Do you feel that it is important to know the artist’s intention in order to appreciate and understand the work?

Hi Uji Venkat,

Your comment doesn't differ much from my intention. If I
think it is important to know the intention of the artist but the artist also helps a lot to know the opinion of the viewer and that he has a point of view of his own, since each person, through his own experience, produces different feelings.

In the publication of the series of pieces "Projected reflections" you can see a text written by me about my intention for the realization of this series.

Lately I am very interested in Freud's theory "Unheimlich", which in Spanish has been translated as the "la inquietante extrañeza." I am interested as something that we know as familiar can become strange. They are metaphorical images that invite the viewer to transit through a mysterious and hidden space that is revealed through the folds of everyday life. I am increasingly interested in understanding the image as a psychological experience, representing spaces and everyday objects but transformed in such a way as to produce in the spectator confusion and restlessness. In this sense, I use ambiguous and opposing concepts, such as interior and exterior, light and darkness, reality and fiction.

The "imaginary universe" you create in your pieces and describe in your intro to the "Projected Reflections" series is captivating. You have truly breathed a new life into spaces that exist in reality. As a fellow painter, you have inspired me to continue to depict illusions that photography and digital imaging cannot portray.

I'm very intrigued by your dedication to the viewer's experience. Your interest in the psychological experience is different from the perspective that I have taken myself, as an artist. My own creation of art is only beginning to extend beyond myself. What psychological experience has your art incited within you? From where did you draw the inspiration and connection to Freud's theory?