Sunburst
“The tiny, glowing details in the Sunbursts work on the edge of the visible – a small-scale translation of the great vaults and domes of Baroque Rome with their bursts of blinding light...The baroque and rather un-British visions of heaven” Professor Martin Kemp, Art Historian, University of Oxford.
Sunburst is a series of works that explore race, heritage, representation and the power of the visual image to shape our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Green reflected on prevailing renditions of the divine and how people of colour have been marginalised and excluded from artist’s renderings of angels and Heaven. Throughout Western art history whiteness became tantamount to holiness, intertwined with white supremacy, colonialism and nationalism, symptomatic of a wider issue in which pervasive imagery shapes how society values people.
The Sunburst series references canonical works of Western art, particularly the exuberant grandeur of the Baroque and Rococo period, combined with non-Western modes of production, imagery and inspiration so that the characters are re-claimed and re-defined. Green has harnessed the transformative power of art to construct new inclusive narratives and understandings and to address the persistent undervaluing of Others.
Green began with a series of paintings of ornate cherubs created initially in the image of her mixed-heritage children and their ancestors and later adding the image of all children of the world.
These complex works began as drawings, developed into hand-painted and silkscreen printed patterns. These have been digitised and retransformed into a repeat pattern in different bold vibrant colour-ways and embellished with diamond dust and gold, to create a sense of transcendent radiant light and add value. Green’s mixed-media technique in this work was a conscious effort to transcend the European tradition and confront the hierarchy of Western art. Each piece is one-of-a-kind and entirely unique.
Each artwork is made from handcrafted, painted metal and glass, embellished with 24ct gold leaf, diamond dust and archival ink on 300gsm Somerset Satin, referencing the iconic sunburst frame design.
This work is also a personal reflection on divine inspiration and strength in the face of adversity. Through her bold intervention, Green has created a fantastically decorative artwork and a joyous image of heaven.
You can find out more about Green’s motivations, inspiration and research in creating this work by visiting her blog.
If you are interested in purchasing a sunburst piece please contact us by email.
£7,000 + VAT per work
Sunburst, Gloria
