"Another Kind Of Love" Statement.

The way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state of being connected.
My work focuses on a singular snapshot of a relationship, the idea of being surrounded by threat as well as beauty, and peace as well as hardships. We’re all victims of love and hate and equally we are victims of confusing the two. It’s the fragility that allows us to view them as precious and valuable despite them bringing out both the very best and very worst in us.

The landscape paintings included on this site are a description of a world where simplicity is the only importance. Simplicity based on love, nature, beauty, colour and alternate intelligence, each stripped to their barest foundations and detached from any complexity. It is a comment on a world that is not both concerned and so religiously focused on finance, employment, unemployment etc.; But instead embraces a moment where people might actually choose to live by the mottos they preach i.e. “Live life for the moment”, “Live every day like it is your last” and “Take a chance”.

Society has guided us down a path that leads us to believe that money or at least ‘making a pound’ is ‘over-important’ and it is such a depressing thought that money truly does make the world go round; it’s in our every thought and every conversation.
However, the paintings evoke thoughts of exploration, discovery, passion and energy. The figures within the canvasses are entirely submerged and overwhelmed by their surroundings and detached from modern society to ensure such everyday worries, judgements and unimportant expectations do not intrude into the art work.

All successes need not be at the hands of a fiver.

Recently my practice has been concerned with highlighting the lack of perfection in a society that believes in the elusive ‘happily ever after’ concept. Fairy tale describes to us, a happiness that is completely dependent on the existence of Prince Charming. It is this man that you will fall head over heels in love with as he rescues you from a fire-breathing dragon, whisks you off your feet onto his beautiful white horse and makes you his Princess in an enchanted kingdom. However, our individuality hinders us in any relationship and perhaps human beings, as unromantic as it may seem, were designed to survive solo? Love can be short-lived - a mere interruption.
It is this ‘interruption’ which provides the basis for my most recent series of paintings. The idea of being completely connected to and surrounded by another human being. A pairing that allows you to fall victim to your own human nature, where you look into your ‘magic mirror’ and identify yourself as both a ‘goodie’ and a ‘baddie’. Flaw and corruption is in our make-up and we are as destructive as we are constructive, therefore we build relationships yet destroy them for impact, effect or response. My paintings primarily describe the positives, the idea of an intense feeling of deep affection for another individual, an exploration/experience of another person. I purposely use colour to represent both the idea of beauty and threat as well as peace and hardships. Love and hate play an unjustified role in our everyday thoughts and despite them being of opposite extremes it is our immaturity and naivety that forces us to attach these two words/feelings so closely to people/objects/places/experiences.
We naively embrace the idea of ‘forever and ever’ in relation to a temporary affair. Love is impermanent, yet our expectations are not. My work captures a moment where love could exist; a situation that is easily relatable.
Relationships are fragile, delicate things and this softness is magnified in the gentility of each finished canvas. Despite the description of an intimacy that exists only in the presence of two people, my work is also a comment on what is not portrayed to the viewer.
A secret.

"Happily, But Not Ever After" Statement.

Loosely based on the subject of fairy tale and born from an obsession with Disney’s, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, my work explores a world which lacks in ‘happily ever afters’ as well as the escapism implied by such stories. Part of my fascination with this particular fairy tale was the idea of even a ‘completely good’ human being falling victim to temptation. My paintings make a comment on how/why we choose to take ‘just one bite’ from our own poisonous apples, despite the threat of consequence. My interest in the character of Snow White, specifically when I was younger, was that she existed in the stories as a perfectly good human being, however as we mature we realise that there is no such thing as complete good or complete evil and that all of us can in fact, identify with both ‘Snow White’ and ‘The Wicked Stepmother’. My paintings tell the story of an alternate world and stems from my interest in, not so much a perfect, happily ever after world, but just a differing one.
As part of my research for this body of work, I studied the original Hans Christian Andersen and Charles Perrault tales and without ignoring my long term relationship with Walt Disney’s more prettified versions, I allowed my work to fall somewhere in between. I attempt to depict a visual that I consider to be beautiful then consciously flaw it – this method can be found in the ‘broken paintings’ such as, “Was I Right Or Was I Wrong” and, “One Last Bite.” Alongside this, I also choose to include areas of complete darkness within my paintings to heighten the sense of something tainted and the idea of the fear of the unknown. I find it to be important for fairy tales to create a balanced description of good and evil (Snow White and the Wicked Stepmother) and my intention was for my work to have a similar balance.
The stories themselves encourage escape. We use them for problem solving. The moment you find yourself asking, ‘What if?” is a means of escape. What if my Buzz Lightyear really did come alive the moment I stepped out of my bedroom? What if my mobile phone really was a transformer? What if that man that I met really was my Prince Charming? Escapism, positive or negative is in itself, inescapable and I believe my work provides me with a means to do so, and as an ornament in a harsh reality there will be times where we cannot help but bite from our own poisoned apples and face the consequences of such an action. The world is an offering of temptation and want, and at times we will fall victim to our human nature. I find this to be unsettling and my paintings offer me a way of dealing with my own ‘apple’ by repeatedly confronting it. By converting something considered negative in a beautiful light, I am changing the way I view my own temptations, bad decisions and overall naivety.

No tags here.

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  Don't Worry 'Bee' Happy

  Original painting by Vikki Hastings Acrylic on canvas 101 x 76cm Signed by the artist and dated 2012 Original painting available for sale at £300.00 If interested, please get in contact with Vikki at vikki.elvis@fsmail.net

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  RMS Titanic

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  "Butterflies On Bank Street"

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  "Some People Cry And Some People Die By The Wicked Ways Of Love"

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  "I Don't Mind Stealing The Last Kiss Before I Die"

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  "Three's A Crowd"

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  "Sky On Fire"

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  "Wish You Were Here"

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  "One Sided Love Affair"

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  "A Relationship With A Cloud"

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  "I Remember Doing The Time Warp"

  Based on a photograph that was taken of both myself and a friend in the pub at halloween, this painting has very strong portraiture elements yet contains a seemingly three-dimensional 'ooze'.

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  "Was I Right Or Was I Wrong"

  Born from both the idea of the forbidden fruit and the fairy tale depiction of the poisoned apple, this painting focuses on temptation and the possibility of two seperate scenarios: Life before the bite and life afterwards. Again, as a result of having 'too much' control ...

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  "One Last Bite"

  An original acrylic on canvas painting with a fairy tale-esque quality, particularly the idea of the 'Wicked Witch' and the 'Poisonous Apple'. As much as some control is incredibly important within a painting, I find it easy to fall victim to control. I find 'paint pour...

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  "One Apple A Day"

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  "Nothing Left To Believe In"

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  "In The Apple Of The Beholder"

  Featuring the 'poisoned apple' which is ever present in fairy-tale, yet plays a more sinister role in this original painting. The idea of temptation playing both a familiar and unavoidable part in humanity. The painting registers flaw and corruption and how we all fall victi...