Electric by Emma Grzonkowski

A limited edition giclee on canvas, by Emma Grzonkowski. Here, Emma comments on this stunning piece of artwork.

"My intial aim was to produce a piece which was striking, contemporary and that evokes a strong sense of emotion; "Electric" certainly has those attributes for me as the title was chosen because I experienced an accidental electric shock! Whilst I was completely immersed in the production of this piece I mindlessly put a plug into a socket which had no back on it and I was thrown to the other side of my studio. In complete panic I ran to my next door neighbours house completely covered in paint and shouted "I've been electrocuted!" Thankfully, I escaped with only a burn to my hand and a numb arm for the rest of the night!"

"I produced the painting by building up transparent layers of water saturated acrylic and inks, which allows the colours to glow through one another. Once I had built up the face in this way I then filled the background with rich dark shades in order to make the face more dramatic. Once these structural stages are complete I am able to work in a more spontaneous manner at varied times of the day depending on my mood. I created the large splashes of pink, in the early hours of the morning, when I was restless one night thinking how I could give the painting extra impact. I decided that the only way I would be able to sleep was if I got  out of bed and worked on it. At moments like this my mind is relaxed, yet adrenalin is pumping round my body as I know it could go very wrong. I turned my music up, mixed a big pot of pink paint and threw it across the full length o fthe canvas in just two energetic movements, which transformed it immediately."

"The piece is dark in mood, which is probably due to using a reference from a time of my life when I experienced trauma, but it has a vibrancy to it which conflicts against this to give a sense of excitement and passion"