Gabriela Stelpe
Fine Art
Final year project
Mundane Aesthetics [Read more]
There's Not Enough Room
Shapes and forms of familiar objects are overlapped, floating through the space of the painting. The shapes are composed in a manner that creates the perspective of the objects spilling out of the flat surface and can no longer be contained by the canvas. With a limited, but carefully chosen harmonious colour palette and a variety of black contoured lines, depth is created with the viewer being able to look within. The viewer's position is important as the space of the painting changes based on the angle and distance taken from the work. Some of the shapes are flat, yet some mimic wooden 3-dimensional blocks to suggest a playful and lively quality that should be experienced as the shapes are desperate to fly out of the painting.
There's Not Enough Room
A close-up of the original painting, to magnify the detail and work that goes into making an abstract painting look simple from a distance.
There's Not Enough Room
A painting as part of a series, shifting perspective of space and objects through abstraction.
It's All Connected
Further exploration of depth and space through interlocking and layering shapes. Lines and form manipulate perspective to demonstrate the connection all objects have: aesthetic beauty. All shapes of objects are magnified to illustrate their importance.
It's All Spilling Out
This piece portrays the aesthetic quality of clutter as it floats over a serene background juxtaposing the nature and the magnitude of gadgets and objects we are faced with every day. The painting is accompanied by flat wooden shapes, quite literally spilling out of the painting and manifesting into a physical form along the walls. The shapes connect to each other to further establish the depth of space and the inter-connected nature between 2D and 3D.
Take Notice
Shapes are bending creating movement over the colourful, green background. The shapes are outlined from objects I encounter daily, such as light switches and door handles. The details of shapes are omitted to highlight the beauty of simplicity and aesthetic purpose rather than its general usage. For this project, I had to evaluate the harmony of certain colours and develop combinations most pleasing to the eye as I want my paintings to be easily viewed for long periods of time and reflect familiarity.
The Kitchen
A play of scale and abstract form to portray the common objects: a washing machine and a kettle. The objects themselves are not supposed to be immediately recognised, just appreciated and engaged with, through the addition of bright colours.
Out In the Open
To confront the viewer with the aesthetics of objects, to accompany the paintings I have created flat wooden sculptures as physical manifestations of the shapes in the painting. The sculptures allow the viewer to interact with space, form a playful atmosphere and reconnect with the objects.
Gabriela Stelpe
I am predominantly a painter and wooden sculpture artist who aims to reintroduce mundane objects and spaces in a playful and colourful manner.
My practice is based on confronting the neglect of ordinary objects we interact with on a daily basis, such as can openers or a street light, through abstraction. In our society, we are overrun by clutter and gadgets in our homes as well as the outside, and we often forget to appreciate their qualities. By highlighting the aesthetic quality of objects through magnifying their shape, form and injecting colour, I aim to create a playful and lively experience of remembering the things we have forgotten to take notice of in our busy lives and change the perspective of how we view them and to contemplate their aesthetic beauty. The details of objects are purposefully omitted from the shapes to allow for all the focus to be placed on soaking in the aesthetic qualities they naturally present. Colours are carefully chosen to be harmonious and pleasing to the eye, as well as reflect the familiarity of common spaces.
Furthermore, my practice aims to inter-connect the 2D and 3D space through the accompaniment of large, flat, wooden sculptures. By playing with the flow of space and depth of flat surfaces I aim for the viewer to be engulfed and surrounded by shapes as soon as they enter the exhibit.
Final year project
Mundane Aesthetics
Awards
Exhibited and co-curated the 'Visual Impact' exhibition 2020 at the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry.
Head of Illustration at LSU Media Label Magazine 2018-2019
Work Experience
I have worked as Artist in Residence at The Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry, UK during my placement year from 2019-2020. My tasks included: organising and running art-based workshops for employees during wellness months, assisting on any design-related projects and constantly creating new artwork for the refurbished office spaces. During my employment, I also created and co-curated a large annual art exhibition of artwork made by employees as well as Loughborough University students. I was able to organise every detail of the exhibition and work with many other departments, from marketing to events, to present a successful exhibition. My placement enhanced my teamwork and time management skills as the job included multitasking and working on various projects simultaneously, as well as leadership and independence skills. By working at an advanced technology company it also provided me with knowledge of the design and technology sectors that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to learn from. I was able to achieve this through opportunities to photograph various guest lectures by successful and inspiring people in those industries and meetings with manufacturing employees in their workshops.
I have completed work experience as a Gallery manager's assistant at the NN Contemporary art gallery in Northampton, UK. During this experience, I was tasked with logging and archiving various past exhibitions, as well as dealing with customer service in the reception and researching upcoming artists to be featured in the gallery. I developed extensive skills in Excel and other Microsoft programs when archiving and creating presentations of artists for the manager. I also had to use communication skills when dealing with visitors and generally be very organised and manage my time effectively. As it is a fairly small gallery, it was a great opportunity to engage with other creatives and be in an environment dedicated to contemporary art.
During my time at the university, I was Head of Illustration for the LSU (Loughborough Student Union) Media Label Magazine 2018-2019, a student-run magazine exploring and producing articles on current culture and events. I was in charge of creating creative contests for readers and working as a team with the rest of the committee to make sure designs were delegated and created on time for each article. I was also a co-host on the Label magazine university radio show once a week, discussing current headlines and popular culture which was a wonderful opportunity to learn about radio and other media sectors and delve deeper into how media is run.