Artist Personal Statement

Eleanor Breeze is an artist living and working in Cambridge. In 2016 Eleanor completed an MA in Fine Art at Cambridge School of Art. The same year, she was shortlisted for the Marmite Prize for Painting V. In 2017, she exhibited in the Bloomberg New Contemporaries exhibition, which toured to Newcastle and London. Other exhibitions have included Emergency at Aspex Gallery, and Bloc Projects Members’ Show 2018 at Bloc Projects, Sheffield. She is also part of Cambridge based art collective Motion Sickness, who exhibited their first solo show at STOCK Gallery in Manchester, and have recently opened Motion Sickness Project Space, a contemporary art gallery in Cambridge.

Eleanor Breeze reimagines memories and old photographs to create scenes that may or may not have occurred in the past. She is interested in the idea of trying to establish some control over the uncontrollable by reproducing images of people whom she once held close relationships with, but who are no longer in her life. By introducing fictional narratives to the images, Breeze questions our relationship to the past.

Place and object is as important as the figure in Breeze’s painting. Often set in ageing domestic interiors, the images feature particular icons or evocative objects such as a whisky glass or a favourite pair of shoes that may acquire relic status when viewed retrospectively. Quick gestural marks alongside more detailed areas suggest different time frames in the painting process, and disrupt a simple reading of the image. Ultimately, the images remain ambiguous; they are often melancholy, making reference to something lost or just out of reach.

Works Exhibited

Untitled (2018), oil on canvas

Why do we only meet at weddings and funerals? (2018), oil on canvas

About The Cambridge Show

‘The Cambridge Show’ brings together work by twenty-two artists who live or work in and around Cambridge. Showcasing a cross-section of the artistic community operating in the local area, from photography to performance, the exhibition will explore these artists’ diverse practices, and some of the themes and issues that they are engaging with right now.

Images

Eleanor Breeze, Untitled (2018). Courtesy the artist.

Eleanor Breeze, Cecily (2018). Courtesy the artist.

Eleanor Breeze, Why do we only meet at weddings and funerals? (2018). Courtesy the artist.