The conceptualisation of my practice towards the end of the '90s changed how I approached my central concern, painting. Nothing and The Quandary of Painting includes a visual notebook exploring the nature of thinking about painting and how context shapes meaning.
Created at a time when my ideas about art were in flux, no-thing, not being, and nothingness were ideas around identity, value and relevance I needed to explore, to make art nothing so that I could rebuild my ideas about what was or was not art, this included ideas about myself as an artist. The work became a commentary on identity politics and branding. I realised that anything could be art, including found objects and my identity. I embraced the idea of the expanded field and a multidisciplinary approach to making art. I had to test the boundaries. This work opened the door to all my subsequent work, thoughts and projects.
In 1998, I held a Studio Sale of all my work to date. , I catalogued, listed, priced and labelled everything from sketches and notebooks to large completed paintings. In 1999, I created an unbound visual book The Quandary of Painting-A Practical Handbook for the Making of Artworks, with four chapters: 1. Representation?; 2. The Grid (Failed Representation?); 3. History Possibility? and 4. Nothing. It consisted mainly of drawings in the form of notes, photographs, photocopies and collaged postcards. This work explored ideas for the making of artworks; some were realised, some were not, and some are still being realised.
Also see texts, The Quandary of Painting 1999
The conceptualisation of my practice towards the end of the '90s changed how I approached my central concern, painting. Nothing & the Quandary of Painting included a visual notebook exploring the nature of thinking about painting. My work became more research-based and explored how context shapes meaning.
Created at a time when my ideas about art were in flux, no-thing, not being, and nothingness were ideas around identity, value and relevance I needed to explore, to make art nothing so that I could rebuild my ideas about what was or was not art, this included ideas about myself as an artist.
The work became a commentary on identity politics and branding. I realised that anything could be art, including found objects and my identity. I embraced the idea of the expanded field and a multidisciplinary approach to making art. I had to test the boundaries. This work opened the door to all my subsequent work, thoughts and projects.
In 1998, I held a Studio Sale of all my work to date, I catalogued, listed, priced and labelled everything from sketches and notebooks to large completed paintings. In 1999, I created an unbound visual book The Quandary of Painting-A Practical Handbook for the Making of Artworks, with four chapters: 1. Representation?; 2. The Grid (Failed Representation?); 3. History Possibility? and 4. Nothing. It consisted mainly of drawings in the form of notes, photographs, photocopies and collaged postcards. This work explored ideas for the making of artworks; some were realised, some were not, and some are still being realised.
Sarah Iremonger 2026