Penny Hamblin

Penny's paintings are constructed by building up thin layers of oil paint on canvas so that the finished effect is a journey into what lies beneath. As in nature, each gaze reveals something different.

Penny’s prints are also built up in layers. Her photographic-based work hones in on the imprint of humans on historic, often decaying, buildings. The series “Absence/Presence” began with an appointment made to photograph the decaying structure of the West Pier in Brighton. Here was a structure that could be used as a metaphor for the idea that a space can hold within its presence a past and a history: a space once vibrant and occupied but now decaying, claustrophobic. The shadowed interiors, exemplified by peeling paint and broken windows, contrast with the open spaces beyond. These spaces are both literal and metaphorical: the sea stretches off into the distance and the past is the space occupied by a series of recollections.
… within two weeks the Pier was closed to the public