Monsters, Chambers, and Trapdoors: Georgia Dymock
In 'Monsters, Chambers, and Trapdoors', Georgia Dymock explores the idea of identity, saturating her figures with subtle mythological and fantastical traits. In doing so, the artist invites viewers to question traditional narratives and their own perceptions of heroism and monstrosity.
A recurring motif in Dymock's latest body of work is the depiction of paired figures, often connected yet displaying a surface-level intimacy. Drawing from Plato's writings on Soulmates, which tell of humans originally created with four arms, four legs, and two heads, Dymock reflects on the profound sense of incompleteness and longing for connection that followed their separation by Zeus. Her figures, while physically close, evoke a sense of coldness and detachment, exploring the objecthood of human forms. Alienation of the body is further emphasised by Dymock's use of shiny, metallic-looking surfaces, which draw attention to the cold, non-human nature of the figures.
This detachment raises questions about whether Dymock is painting still life rather than figuration, her abstractions reducing human forms to their simplistic elements. The paintings in fact continue an early 20th Century (Surrealism/Dada) preoccupation with the (non)human character of the mannequin, the automaton, the wax figure. These personifications are full of slippery associations that portray the body like a rearranged sentence. Unspecified people, but specific objects. These symbolic objects of difficult intricacies preoccupy the artist's interest in ideas of fragmentation, disintegration, dissolution, and the shattering of the subject.
