Katy Moran (B. 1975)

British painter Katy Moran’s work fluctuates between figuration and abstraction, urging the viewer to decipher representation within the dense patchwork of expressionistic brushwork. These three paintings, characteristically small but loaded with paint, exemplify her approach. Employing a greyscale palette, Moran creates rich, thick textures that beg to be examined in detail. Moran sources images from Google, design magazines and her own photography collection, before utilising these pictures as a foundation for her paintings. She then rotates the canvas as she works, producing unexpected results which alter the course of the process, before discovering some form in the paint which she feels will be relatable, and thereafter deems the work finished. Chance plays an integral role in Moran’s approach to figurative painting; as the artist states, ‘it is like trying to make a masterpiece – it normally happens when I am trying the least’ (K. Moran, quoted in ‘Katy Moran: painter’, https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/katy-moran-painter-i-want-the-viewer-to-see-what-i-see-in-the-works-the-titles-are-an-aid-9995456.html [accessed 26 July 2017]).