Painter Rebecca Harper describes her subjects as situated in “middling space” (thankfully avoiding that artworld buzzword of recent years, “liminal”). What this means in practice is that many of the people in her frequently fairytale-like worlds are outdoors—at home but not within a house—perhaps camping, climbing a tree, or on a road trip we’ll have no way of knowing the destination of. The images combine a modern take on magical realism with the sensibilities of a very British sort of nostalgia, referencing the artist’s interest in the way we interact with the world around us. “The works contain deep echoes of a personal displacement and narrative,” says Harper. “A storm brews, siblings drape on family trees, the figures journey from place to place much like some of my ancestors in exile.” Her work is currently on show in a solo exhibition entitled Concrete Shadows, which presents five of her large-scale paintings all produced within the last year. “In my work semi-fictional characters travel like chameleons, morphing through varied cultures and classes—taking on different guises in different places,” the artist adds. “I hope to highlight ideas around the notion of the relationships that exist between identity and displacement (the action of moving something from its place or position).” Concrete Shadows runs until 12 October at London’s Huxley-Parlour Gallery.
