Technique

For Victoria, Fragmented Realism means studying an object or landscape through its drawing, colours and forms, then bringing selected parts into a new composition. A bunch of grapes, a few leaves and a piece of branch can find new relationships with other branches and leaves. She recomposes what she observes rather than depicting the whole scene.

She starts with patches of one or two colours, generally in acrylic, and may add loose marks in willow charcoal before defining a form. Acrylic’s quick drying helps her continue over these first patches; the charcoal gives her drawing a structure.

Although she works without an advance sketch or project, she can sketch directly on the already stained canvas and develop more detailed drawing there. A living branch nearby becomes her reference.

Victoria applies and moves paint with brushes and cloths. Further layers may use acrylic or oil, with the drying time influencing her choice. As the painting develops, fresh patches of colour can cover earlier drawing and suggest new forms.

She prefers the finish she finds in oil: its satin sheen and the transparency she values when placing layers of colour over one another.

An unwanted passage can become a starting point. Scraping or wiping away paint may leave an imperfect patch that she draws over again, bringing something unexpected into the composition.

Her decisions remain free and intuitive. She considers a painting finished when she feels that nothing needs to be added or taken away.