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Sydney-based artist Loribelle Spirovski draws on her Filipino and Yugoslavian background in her surrealist paintings, with each body of work expressing a fascination with the human form and psyche. Though citing varied influences such as Francis Bacon’s claustrophobic spatial relationships, David Lynch’s dreamlike surrealism, and Olivier Messiaen’s static musical tones, Spirovski notes her own inner conflicts were the earliest, most formative influences on her art.
“In my practice I have found that portraiture enables me to reflect through the sitter, who becomes a conduit for both their own anxieties, as well as mine. My practice is an attempt to externalise internal conflict, contrasting movement and stillness to create an unsettling effect, evoking a surreal and dreamlike quality,” says Spirovski.
Her paintings are diverse, from Surrealist interior scenes to minimalist figurations and highly rendered portraiture. Consistent throughout is her use of fluid lines combined with deliberate negative space, representing both the energy of her subjects and her own inner monologue. Her dreamscapes are at once familiar yet slightly unnerving, feeding into themes of mental health and anxiety.
Recent works draw on personal memories from Spirovski’s childhood in Manila and as a migrant in Australia. A work titled ‘Memory Palace’ depicts Spirovski’s pet monkey, Tootsie, traipsing through a grand looking courtyard lined with arched openings.
The artist recalls being too young to properly take care of her pet monkey, and the deep sense of regret she now feels. “In many ways she best embodies my experience growing up in my mother’s country, and I feel lucky that I have at last found some way of dealing with my grief for Tootsie and my experiences in the Philippines, through my art. I love you Tootsie, and I’m sorry.”
Spirovski completed a Bachelor of Art Education at the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales in 2012. Since graduating, the artist has exhibited in numerous group shows across Australia, as well as internationally in the UK and USA. In 2018 she held her first solo exhibition at Guy Hepner Gallery, New York. In November 2019, Spirovski’s debut solo exhibition in the UK, ‘Love, Death And The Time I Knew You’, opened with House of Fine Art Gallery, London.
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