Artwork Description
Monica Lundy – Patient with Leaves (Surrey County Lunatic Asylum,
U.K.)
Dimensions: 66 x 42 x 3.5″ finished size
Year: 2021
Medium: mixed media with liquid porcelain on panel
Lundy says about this work: “The exhibition, Physiognomy of the Abandoned, features portraits of patients from various historic, international asylums. Based on research conducted at various legendary psychiatric hospital archives, many of the portraits feature patients whose lives and stories have been long forgotten in time. While working with documents and images of the anonymous masses, I found myself reflecting on how this tragic history has also directly involved the lives of so many individuals of cultural significance, including famous artists, writers, musicians and many more.
Lundy’s use of liquid porcelain represents a typically considerate approach to finding the aesthetic in her practice. Created through years of experimentation, yet only now representing a significant portion of her output, Lundy’s liquid porcelain style of painting creates a fragmented texture and character that speak to the decay of the subjects she paints. This fragmentation, along with the time intensive process, create layers of histories within the pieces themselves. The liquid porcelain pieces, then, adopt a time induced lostness and ephemerality that beautifully translates Lundy’s archival research process.