Lucie Bennett’s most recent limited editions see her delve into new territories as she creates two sleek and immaculately finished works made solely from laser cut acrylic. Angie talks more about the work below.
Lucie Bennett has always been interested in exploring the sensual in her work, not only through the female forms she creates in her signature simple lines and block colour, but also in her choice of medium. When I first started working with Lucie back in 2003, her paintings were made with latex, a tactile material that mirrored the sassy women that featured in them. Works that followed saw her paint in high gloss onto aluminium panels to achieve the silky, smooth finish that directly related to the delicately illustrated feminine subjects she portrayed, as she began to develop the simple line technique she’s best known for. In addition to this, the silkscreen editions created at the same time mimicked the sense of slick simplicity of the gloss on aluminium works. Clear glazes were used over lines of thick sumptuous ink to create a similar ‘high gloss’ feel through her prints and paintings.
This year Lucie has begun to look into using different and interesting materials to create her distinctive and widely-collected works, and after much research, paired with a little inspiration from the bright and poppy colours used by artists such as Tom Wesselman and Michael Craig-Martin, she decided to explore the flawlessly smooth nature and vibrant colour palettes of acrylic plastics. The result: the two striking new editions
Candy Stripe and
Tutti Frutti.
Colour has always played a dominant part in Lucie Bennett’s work, and she was drawn to the simple primary tones of the acrylic medium that reminded her of the first colours we discover during infancy. Talking about the pieces, Lucie says: “in these works both figure and colour are pared back to their simplest, most essential form, lending an accessibility to the work which also plays on notions of Pop.”
What’s interesting about these new editions is the fact they’ve been constructed solely out of acrylic, with no paper, paint or any other material involved, allowing them to virtually become sculptural objects. The laser cutting means that each piece fits perfectly together, giving them a beautifully tactile quality that’s almost seductive, again directly relating to the provocative poses displayed by the female subjects that feature. Although the imagery depicted in these works is essentially figurative, Lucie pushes the boundaries with abstraction by only showing part of the torso and using aligned sections of colour alongside the single lines, while conveying a sensuality that is predominantly female.
Working well singularly or as a pair, Lucie spent some time selecting the exact colours for these new editions to achieve her desired effect. As she embraces this new medium, this is very much a development in her working practice, and perhaps marks the beginning of a new direction for the artist in terms of materials used to portray her ideas.
Each in an edition of just 25,
Candy Stripe and
Tutti Frutti both measure 75 x 58 cm and are currently available at the launch price of £2,400 (incl. vat) / $3,390 each. See them in more detail
here.