Ashleigh Worden- MA Fine Art
My work exists in the space between allure and foreboding, where I create scenes that are both familiar and unsettling- intentionally defamiliarizing the ordinary. Drawing on themes of the uncanny, the abject, and the existential, my paintings explore emotions that are difficult to articulate, often evoking a sense of existential unease. Through the familiar landscape of suburbia I explore how ordinary environments can become strange, using familiar streets, houses and interiors as sites for considering memory, displacement and belonging.
I document the mundane moments that shape our everyday experiences, questioning what we discover when we dwell in discomfort. How do our inner selves relate to the environments we inhabit, and how do they shape one another? The active human element is notably absent, allowing these environments to become psychologically charged. A solitary lit window, for example, becomes a focal point- inviting curiosity while transforming the viewer into both an intruder and a voyeur.
The influence of horror cinema remains woven throughout my work, particularly in the way it amplifies the ordinary and creates unease from seemingly mundane environments. I am curious about the psychological unease that exists without an explicit threat- the quiet tension of an empty street, a familiar house at dusk, or a landscape that feels strangely detached from the self. Through this, I explore the uncanny and the existential, considering the ways in which ordinary spaces can become unfamiliar when viewed through memory, distance and displacement.
My paintings occupy a liminal space between familiarity and estrangement, comfort and discomfort, presence and absence. They consider the fragility of our sense of belonging and the unsettling realisation that places we once understood intimately can become strange to us.
