‘I Paint Therefore I Am’ – A Portrait Exhibition (Reflections & Thoughts: Political, Social, Esoteric and the Mundane).

Rachel Grove started painting at the age of 24 whilst staying in the German countryside. She came across a little art shop in the village where she was staying and picked up some watercolour paints. A passion in painting was instantly ignited. From that day on, she decided to go to art school and has been painting ever since. She graduated from the North Adelaide School of Art in 2000 and since 2003, has exhibited in various group exhibitions in New York, The UK, Italy and Australia.

'My self-portraits take on many guises. A portrait can end up with thick layers of paint or can be smooth. I let the painting process take effect. I am constantly developing in this area alternating between more abstraction and more figurative. A portrait to me is more than a mere likeness, it delves into the many facets of self, cutting to the core of one’s existence. Hence my portraits can take on many different forms and guises. Portraits can reflect thoughts that relate to the political, social, the esoteric and the mundane. My motto for painting is "I paint therefore I am", it is a diary of sorts. I tend to oscillate between observation and imagination which enables subconscious elements to surface. This can be temperamental as this process lends itself to a lot of trial-and-error working through the composition until you reach the desired effect'. – Rachel Grove

‘I Paint Therefore I Am’ runs at POME from July 12th to July 26th.