Laura Lancaster Montage II, 2015 Oil on Linen (Diptych) 260 x 230 cm These works (MONTAGE I and MONTAGE II) are based upon the pairing of the first and last frames from found home movies on cine film. Montage is a cinematic technique in which shots are edited together in order to condense time, space and information. In these works, images which have until now only been played sequentially, and have never previously been alongside each other are forced together, disrupting their original sequence. These first and last frames imply both the mechanical recording of time, and it’s impermanence. The viewer is confronted with a montage of two images, yet they only serve to highlight what is not known about the sequence of events that intercede them. This process allowed for a systematic approach to the image selection for these paintings, and for the decisions made. The work is concerned with the construction of multiple images within one painting and the way in which their meaning can be manipulated. In both works, evidence of the film as an object is visible, in the sprocket holes and marks left on the film, referring to its mechanical, functional characteristics. These elements disrupt the coherence of the images highlighting their constructed nature. These devices also force the abstract and the figurative to exist on the same picture plane and allow forthis dialogue to take place more overtly within my practice. Laura Lancaster 2015
