Melissa Kime

People inhabit my paintings; I hunt for characters from my past and cling onto those from the present. Through the use of intricate patterns and jumbled lines, I have created an idealised space that becomes a stage set for contemporary plays. These plays show the years of my life, from the childhood I never wanted to leave to the beguiling adulthood that ultimately steals us all. Gathering and weaving observational and imaginative drawings into my work, I am able to condense time and so traces of my past linger like ghosts and my own memories exist forever. The ruler of my cast, a clean-shaven god, grants immortality; for in my kingdom nobody ever dies. 

When I was younger I was told that if you repeated something sixty times over then you would never forget it. This phrase mirrors a childhood memory that I have of watching my mother at work reupholstering tapestries. The constant, continuous stitching and needlework made me aware that a world could be  created through intricate detail. My paintings have allowed me to enshrine my past; a past that is at once personal, but one that all of us can identify with.