ALISON LITHERLAND
Do we know the places we know
Mixed media on canvas
55 x 175 cm
2021
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"My paintings are normally based on my memories of wide open northern coastal places, but with current restrictions these places became unavailable to me. So I started to take an interest in the only place I currently have access to - the city of Cambridge. As I’ve lived here so long my eyes glaze over it with the ennui of familiarity. But I began noticing the beauty of ordinary corners and the interest of the juxtaposition of the rooftops of adjoining buildings. I spent the last few months of 2020 wandering round town with my sketchbook and graphite sticks. I became fascinated with chimneys, and with the strange little towers on many of the Victorian buildings. Back at home I would produce imaginative sketches based on the feeling and sense of mystery of the long history of these buildings and places. The painting is based loosely on these sketches and aims to evoke the sense of a city with a long history, with buildings jumbled alongside and over one another."
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