For those of you who know her work, you will find that Addy has moved on from what you might expect. She is painting beautiful and complex landscapes composed of layers of oil paint which individually retain both substance and translucency. The effect is to capture the fluidity of the firmament – sunlight spilling through clouds, earth and sky bathed in luminosity. Her subject is the landscape that she encounters around her which she recreates in the studio as photographic panoramic ‘sketches’. From that visual reference point, Addy creates paintings that echo her memories, thoughts, dreams and emotions – moments of ‘peak experience’. There is a strong autobiographical element in her work that colours her compositions with titles such as “The memory of the moment we first met”. An artist invites us to share their journey, yet the success of a painting is also determined by their ability to invite us to make our own. Addy Gardner is chasing beauty, and is successful on both counts.
Moving seamlessly between configuration and abstract expressionism, Addy Gardner invites the viewer to journey between an earthly landscape and a canvas of dreams. Her painting aspires to ‘peak experience’ where the viewer releases their sense of self to an awareness of a greater unity. Addy commands an ability to create form, transforming the colours of earth and sky to a spectrum of light and ambivalence. Working in oil on canvas, Addy’s paintings are infused with vitality, imparting energy and a sense of joy.