‘Preparation for Chaos’

2020 brought major global change and with it new ideas and new thinking. A shift occurred and a new body of work emerged.  In the works shown here, Stroude focused on exploring representation of the body as it is being tested by physical and psychological challenges, especially during adolescence as we learn survival skills and build resilience for adult life.  Stroude used images as a visual metaphor for the emotional tests that we were encountering with the onset of the Covid 19 pandemic and the multiple lockdowns that followed.

Siskin (triptych)

Oil on canvas laid on mdf panels, 21cm x 52cm, 2020

Thursday’s Child (triptych)

Oil on canvas 70cm x 160cm, 2020

The use of multiple images in the diptych and triptych formats elongates the time spent by the viewer in their engagement with each individual in the paintings and provides Stroude with the opportunity to communicate change. Directions and view points switch from image to image to give a feeling of imbalance or a change in perspective and our perception of time and space. Figures struggle to retain balance while standing on their hands, cling to zip wires as their feet dangle above the ground that passes beneath them or tumble and turn through the air with explosive energy.

Tumbler Series I-V.

Charcoal on Paper, each 21cm x 15cm, 2020

Varying Degrees of Upside Down Series

Oil on Unstretched Canvas. Each 30cm x 21cm, 2020

Hold Tight & Don’t Let Go (Diptych)

Oil on Unstretched Canvas. Each 30cm x 21cm, 2020