Jane MacLean - Mnemosyne's Gifts

‘... if you had no memory you would not recollect that you had ever been pleased, nor would the slightest recollection of the pleasure which you feel at any moment remain with you. . .’ Socrates to Protarchus, Plato, Philebus 21BC

Hampstead artist Jane MacLean is a figurative painter in the true sense of the word. She excels at depicting the human body. The themes of previous exhibitions in Gallery K – Hampstead were largely derived from Greek mythology. Her most recent solo was Daughters of Gaia, so Mnemosyne is the natural progression. Mnemosyne was Gaia’s daughter and also the personification of memory.

Throughout art history mythology has provided artists with inspiration, and the opportunity to demonstrate their draughtsmanship and painting techniques. MacLean’s painting technique is similar to that of the old masters: she applies layer upon layer of delicate transparent glazes of pigment and oil, producing organic depth and richness.

Memory plays a significant role for artists, generating creative ideas and involuntary responses not only to visual imagery, but also to sounds, scents and tastes. MacLean’s painting The Leopard is based on the memory of seeing it, but she also remembers sensing its presence, and hearing its breath. Her flowers, especially the heavy roses invoke memories of scent, like Proust’s taste of madeleines associated with his childhood

The common thread that runs through much of her work is myth, intertwined with the power of woman. Although in this collection of new work she has moved aside from mythology, it is never too far away, and this time in The Garden dyptich and The Gift, MacLean is using narratives from the Bible. Each painting is viewed from her personal feminine perspective; woman as wife, companion and friend, woman as lover, heroine or sinner – and especially as story teller, the guardian of cultural myths and memories.

In her paintings of nudes, Jane MacLean endeavours to convey the actual feeling of skin and the way light plays on it. She is influenced by two artists who adored the female form: Rubens with his stunning ability to depict light on skin, and Klimt whose elegantly sinuous women evoke similar recollections of pleasure.

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