Angela McCullagh - 'Home Tools: Comfort and Charm'

Acrylic painting, textile and mixed media on paper

During coronavirus lockdown this year, many people spring cleaned their homes, thought about their possessions, and had a good clear-out. My chosen theme - the meaning of everyday objects at home - gained immediate currency.

In my artwork I have sought a playful interpretation of various tools and utensils from my old family home where I spent lockdown. The house has plenty of rather unsettling clutter, but also familiar and even comforting individual pieces with their form and connotations. These ideas have been reflected in my material choices through the creation of object ‘portraits’ in mixed media: acrylic paint, collage and textile on paper.

I have been inspired by Henri Matisse and Philip Guston, and drawn on Art and the Home, Comfort, Alienation and the Everyday by I. Racz (Tavistock, London, 2015).