POUNDS FOR BREAD is a solo exhibition by Hackney Wick based artist Cristina BanBan. For this body of work BanBan explores the struggles and the victories of everyday life. Her subjects range from the real street scenes and situations she encounters to her doubts, fears and difficulties. The initial reality of these scenes is distorted by the presence of symbols and motifs that are personal to the artist:
“I find myself exploring the situations and objects that surround me. I observe discarded objects and choose them at will for my paintings before gifting them with flowers as a plain symbol of hope. I like the idea of giving other attributes to an image of decadence, adding a certain aspect of grace or allure.”
BanBan works across layers, adding or deleting items in an impulsive manner until she believes the image is complete. This activity produces the different dimensions that are present within the work; the deliberate plane of the image, elements that appear to float outside of that plane and in places simply the dimension formed by the act of painting and repainting itself. Here the energetic brushstrokes and density of the acrylic depart from formal meaning. Saturated and strongly contrasting colours are distributed instinctively between these different dimensions, compiling all of BanBan’s curious components in one vision.
