about


Interdisciplinary artist Penny Chivers Stanley is based in Wiltshire, England and works from the studio at no 3 in Devizes. Working in paint, drawing, film, text, photography and film, Penny blurs the boundaries between disciplines to explore themes of vulnerability, slowness and self knowing.

Mental landscapes are a central theme of my work, responding to ever-shifting emotional states and investigating individuation as a mental and bodily process of deep listening.
 

Words from meditative, stream of consciousness journalling, my own poetry or song lyrics, start my process, usually written in charcoal and obliterated, rewritten or allowed to show through.

Alongside journalling, I am attracted to large open skies (analogous to space, light and freedom) which I photograph. I also record birdsong, especially pigeons – a calming rhythm but metaphor for negative perception, and collage sketchbooks, as tools to remember feeling. Everything gathers like a storm pouring out in the work as a cathartic process.

Painting reflects evolving mind states; I encourage paint, pastel and drawn marks to pool, bleed and flow by spontaneously responding to accident and controlled manipulation through layering, over time. When I am in this flow state, I reach a desired stillness.

Current reading linked to work: Tricia Hersey's Nap Ministry, Brene Brown, Carl Jung and Pauline Oliveros