Polly H o l l y o a k
Straddling the boundaries between abstraction and representational forms,
my work explores, colour, pattern and layering through the medium of
painting. Borrowing freely from media imagery in our consumer culture
it explores notions of consumption and desire by highlighting the volume
and cacophony of imagery to which we are incessantly exposed. Through
cropping, juxtaposition and layering images are transformed, and the
distinction between what is real and what is representational dissolves
away. Polly Hollyoak 2015.
Polly Hollyoak’s large scale paintings present a dialogue between pop and
abstraction.
With a background in signwriting and advertising, she borrows freely
from the image bank of everyday modern life, be it advertising, glossy
magazines, visual merchandise or food. Resonating with Baudrillard’s theory
of simulacrum, images are transformed through cropping, colour and
juxtaposition. As form and content evolve, the distinction between the real
and the representation dissolves away.
After completing a Trade Certificate in Signwriting in 1994, Polly went on
to complete her Bachelor of Fine Arts (2012) and a Masters of Fine Arts
(2014) at RMIT University in Melbourne. She has exhibited widely in the
emerging artist scene in Melbourne in various group shows and staging solo
exhibitions at both University and Artist-Run spaces.
Bursting the Brand 2014
oil and enamel on canvas
180 x 110cm
FLINDERSLANEGALLERY