KEY POINTS:
Nicky Hoberman first rose to prominence in the context and aftermath of Charles Saatchi's New Neurotic Realists exhibition in the mid-90s, signalling a return to traditional materials for figurative painters. Hoberman's first New Zealand show is at Auckland's Gow Langsford Gallery, a visually stunning and unsettling collection of six large-scale paintings of wide-eyed, self-possessed children from her Girls series.
The paintings cover a period from 2001-2005. Were you working with a specific theme for this group? The titles seem to indicate a nursery rhyme link.
These paintings are part of a body of work depicting little girls, dealing above all with concepts of isolation, identity and individuality. My girls always have large, out-sized faces and knowing expressions, forcing the viewer to engage. However, the girls' gaze demands attention, while avoiding interaction.
I play with titles: indeed, three of the works in the show use nursery rhymes as titles, intended to conjure up shared childhood stories filled with dark undertones. The titles, Phantom Menace and Miss Fit, though lucid, further emphasise a sense of dislocation and exclusion. I used Powderpuff as a lightweight contrast to the inner strength of the protagonist.
The children are strikingly poised in an area between innocence and something more ominous. Is that the right word? Is that quality coming from within them or an external force? Or is it more ambiguous than that, and over to the viewer to come to their own conclusion?
I hope it's all rather ambiguous and I hope the viewer will make their own deductions. I suppose my girls are knowing in that they seem to understand the dark underside or menace emanating from the outside world.
I am intrigued and attracted by your inclusion of animals in the works. Is this a common element for you? Is the arching cat a benign symbol?
I use lots of animals as they add both a playful element and another layer of dislocation. Does that make any sense? I especially like using cats as they're both menacing and very feminine as well as being playful. I enjoyed placing one upside down, moving along the top of the canvas or flying, as in Powderpuff.
These works are from a series called "Girls". Can you tell us a bit about that body of work?
They're about being empowered and being in control, even in an environment dominated by exclusion and a lack of relating.
When there is more than one child in a painting, they seem to have no connection with each other. This is a little bit unnerving - is that your intention?
Very much so; my central theme is emotional non-relating. The figures may touch but they don't communicate.
Can you tell us about your method of working? The gallery says you start with photography as your source and the computer monitor as your palette.
How, I wonder, did the gallery get computers into the mix? I'm barely computer literate and only bought myself a brand new, fully functioning Mac last week. Up to now, I've struggled on second-hand machines that could barely connect to the net let alone do anything else,
I do, though, start with photography and my colours are synthetic as a reflection of children's toys and sweets. Also, I want the bright colours to belie the psychological darkness of the work.
You have had an itinerant life, being born in South Africa and living at various times in Boston, New York, Paris and London. Has that affected your choice of subject matter, the way you approach your work, in this series at least?
Definitely. Being an eternal immigrant reinforces a sense of not belonging.
I am interested in a comment you made to arts writer Gianni Romano, on irony as "a simulated ignorance, a veiling". This seems evident in this body of work.
Indeed I often use literal veils in my works to reinforce the theme of veiling and non-communication.
Do you use real children as models? And do you prefer to paint girls? If so, why?
I photograph real kids, then return to the studio to paint. I do prefer depicting girls as I think they're more psychologically astute than little boys. Boys just hit each other; little girls will come up with cruel taunts. Also, I enjoy the kitsch clothes and accessories girls have.
Finally, how did you come to have this connection with the Gow Langsford Gallery so far away in NZ?
They approached me through a New York curator. I love their programme so was thrilled to show with them. My only regret is that they didn't invite me over to New Zealand.
One of my absolute favourite writers is Janet Frame so I would have loved to have visited her country.
GALLERY
Who: Nicky Hoberman
Where and when: Gow Langsford Gallery, 26 Lorne St, to Sep 12
