Hilary Gaston was born in Guernsey, UK in 1960. She moved to Australia with her family at the age of eight along with the other ‘ten pound poms’ on board the ‘Fairstar’ before settling in Elizabeth, SA. In 1976 Hilary studied Commercial Art at Elizabeth TAFE where her love of the works by Christine Rosamond and the ‘Sara Moon’ prints started. In 1991 Hilary graduated with a BAVA degree from the Art School in Underdale. She was granted a solo show at ‘Artspace’, Festival Theatre in 1992 and has been regularly exhibiting her work since then. In 2000-2005 Hilary lived in Sydney working full-time for a boutique paint company called Porter’s Paints, working her way up from shop assistant to head colourist. Hilary had her first solo exhibition at Art Images Gallery in 1997 and has been showing work regularly since then. ARTIST STATEMENT I have always been fascinated by faces. I have carefully chosen the feminine which mirror my own personal experience. I am intrigued by the subtleties in line and form which can create a personality. I enjoy portraying women culled from popular culture; subjected to conditioning, by attempting to monumentalize the everyday and transport them by art to reveal an inner beauty. Elevating them as Pop goddesses and divas. While my style is mostly from a past aesthetic, my ideas comment on the present. I transpose popular images from old women’s magazine advertising and ‘girls own’ annuals with patterns along with titles that come from our own times. My influences have been Tamara Lempicka, Roy Lichtenstein, Alex Kats and Christine Rosamond.
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