Katie Gander
Statement
My visual practice investigates shifting power dynamics through symbolic, narrative-based painting. Using modelling paste and oil paint on board, I build layered, textured surfaces that create scenes positioned between the familiar and the surreal. Influenced by the visual language of old storybooks and imagined worlds, the work explores moments where control, vulnerability, and tension quietly unfold.
Each painting is conceived as a single page from a broader, unwritten narrative. Figures are placed in ambiguous situations, where roles of dominance and submission remain fluid and unresolved. Power is conveyed not only through action, but through composition, surface, and suggestion.
The paintings are presented as triptychs alongside other individual works, with each piece reinforcing the broader narrative. Together, these works form an interconnected visual dialogue, where the shifting dynamics of power, tension, and transformation are explored across multiple layers and perspectives.