ELKYMY Sculptural and painterly collaboration between London artists Andrea Papi and Daphne Ang @ Lady Lazarus.
ELKYMY creates textural three-dimensional sceneries inspired by organic forms and flows found in nature, and painted landscapes of imagined worlds.
Displacing the boundaries between sculpture and painting, a central feature in ELKYMY’s works is the juxtaposition of the third dimension enclosed within a two-dimensional surface.
By painting on sculptural abstract forms, which are created by carving and modelling polyurethane foam directly on a canvas, the artist duo combines the medium of painting with sculptural techniques to form an innovation which they call ‘sculpainting’.
ELKYMY’s works seeks to connect disparate worlds, which traverse between physical bodies of land and sea, as well as metaphysically –– as manifest in the synergy and symbiosis between the psyches of the two artists.
A driving force which underpins the artists’ shared vision is the search for the perfect balance –– finding equilibrium between the agency and intervention of the artist's hand, the spontaneity of the materials, and the interaction between the pigments and paints themselves.
Artist Statement
We believe that art should provoke thought and meaning. We seek to create artworks that communicate and connect on a phenomenological as well as on a philosophical level. Our work is largely inspired by organic forms and flows found in nature and landscapes of imagined worlds.
We seek to displace the boundaries between sculpture and painting by combining the medium of painting with sculptural techniques to form an innovation which we call ‘sculpainting’.
We create textural terrains by applying polyurethane foam onto the surface of a canvas. We use a variety of tools to create textural effects evocative of those found in natural landscapes.
The foam has a certain quality of fluidity as it continues to grow and morph in shape and size before it eventually dries out and cures. The ‘formlessness of foam’ and the unpredictability of its final form can be seen as a manifestation of the spontaneity of nature - a central theme in our work. As such, we have chosen this medium as it provides the possibility of creating 3-dimensional forms and flows on a two-dimensional painterly surface.
While the sculptural aspect of our artistic process draws largely from psychic automatism achieved through spontaneous impressions and expressions, the painterly phase that follows, on the other hand, is firmly rooted in theory and knowledge. This is the result of our experimentations with different types of paint, how colours interact with each other, and the tools and mediums which can alter this interaction.
We often approach the creation of a work without conscious intent. We believe there is a strong connection between our psyches. For us, the act of sculpting and painting (together) reveals images from our unconscious minds. A central aim in our collaboration is the creation of works that would reflect both our different styles and individuality, while also encapsulating synergy and symbiosis.