About Al
Al Denyer works with visual translations of mapping and mark making in her drawing and painting practice. Al holds an MFA from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and a BA Honors from Winchester School of Art, England.
A ‘Utah Artist Fellowship Award’ recipient, Al has received numerous grants for her ongoing research. Her work has been shown in many national and international juried and invitation exhibitions, as well as being published in ‘Manifest INDA’, ‘New American Paintings’ and ‘Leonardo Magazine’.
Al’s portrait of Dame Paula Rego for the ‘Work In Progress mural’, commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery, London is now part of the museum’s permanent collection. Al received public art commissions for; ‘Art For Hope’, Commissioned by the Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City, ‘Three Creeks Confluence Project’, Public Art Program Salt Lake City, and was a contributing artist to ‘Utah Women 2020 Mural’.
Originally from Bath, England, Al Denyer is a Professor of Painting and Drawing, at the University of Utah.
Artist Statement
As the viewer steps in and out of a comfortable viewing distance, my work entices questions about what is seen and how we interpret two dimensional work spatially. I create artworks that function beyond the surface; prompting the viewer to look closer, question, interpret and absorb.
I am interested in how space and form can be accurately described two-dimensionally using a linear language. Cartography is heavily referenced in my work, in particular, the use of lines to render form are rooted in map making practices. Similar to topographic lines found in maps, my work leads the viewer through a space addressing questions of how we look at form, and our capability to understand the nuances and distances of the landscape.
Utilizing a painting and drawing technique of building up areas of value using multiple lines, in particular using white charcoal or acrylic ink on black paper or a painted ground, has the effect of aesthetically ‘switching’ the positive with the negative. A positive ‘line’ developed as the result of a negative, has a ‘softer’ feel to it and a physicality. It becomes a space that has a presence.
Through the invention and use of triangulation as a means to accurately map areas of land more than 200 years ago, the understanding and demystification of geographies was revealed. Digital maps not only reveal multiple layers of information, but also place our exact position and progression throughout this space. I am fascinated by how we understand and process these visual mapping complexities, and how the visual language of maps has developed and morphed into a visual interpretation of our surroundings.
