Anie Nheu: Forms on Edge

One of the ideas that has sustained Anie's visual exploration is the relationships the body forms in the space it inhabits. 'Relationships' encapsulates the experiences of a body in a myriad of affect and effects, both tangible and intangible. The background narrative is told through a female body of a perpetual migrant with a culture of birth that is predominantly patriarchal. During resettlement and adaptation brought changes in traditionally assigned roles. Negotiations for place and roles in the new community at large, and at a micro level within the family unit, were acutely felt. These ideas form the basis of the visual framework for the exhibition.

Visually, placement of paintings in an enclosed space becomes the metaphor in the process of resettlement. Like fields with no borders, encapsulated experiences are by nature inter-corporeal; identity is underpinned by social construct and is defined by borders and forms. The exhibition as a whole attempts to amass these 2 seemingly contradictory elements and dwell at its meeting points hedging edges to redefine place and space. The paintings are in effect formed by these edges where space and borders meet.

The space the paintings inhabit plays an integral role in the composition of the exhibition. It is used literally in the context of negotiation of space. Paintings are made with implied sustained emotions that define these 'bodies'. The visual cues for these are surface treatments, shapes, quality of the edges where two spaces meet, and ultimately, how they claim the space they inhabit.

Annie Nheu. © 2016.