On the first day God created light. On the second day he created the sky. On the third day he formed the water and the soil on which we now stand on. The fourth day constituted in the creation of the sun, the moon and the stars to allow differentiation between night, day and the different seasons. On the fifth day he allocated the creatures of the land and of the sea to their rightful places. Then on the sixth day came the population of every source of life on the ground. Finally, on the seventh day, he rested, blessing the day in which his magnum opus was finalized.
Denise Hussey not only embodies the mundane tasks of life in trying times in her most recent collection, 'Miscellaneous Portrayals of Life', but also how fragile our existence really is. Human beings have inhabited this planet since its inception but our nature has been challenged many times, which makes it paramount for our species to go back to the basics and savour the time we have left and the beauty around us.
During the Coronavirus pandemic, Hussey depicted scenes of the day-to-day objects around her house that all of us use, such as; toilet paper; soap; spices; and; kitchen pots in which we boil our water and cook our pasta and rice in. These inanimate objects remain unaffected by the trials and tribulations of the world, almost like the sheeps she encounters around her studio in Delgany, Co.Wicklow, which she heavily portrays and which are a part of this collection or the camels she painted during a trip to Qatar, also a part of this collection. The human has slowly become the most volatile in this natural selection environment. They are trapped, both literally and metaphorically, like the spices in the jars or the toilet paper on the toilet paper holder. Freedom is represented in 'Miscellaneous Portrayals of Life', through the eyes of the artist, as she, an avid swimmer, looks upon the group of eager men and women, or the "Dry Robe brigade", as she calls them at Sandycove beach.
After a ten year hiatus, Hussey returned to the craft she loves so much. Continuing with her process of firstly painting on a small surface, in order to understand the path she wants to undertake and then translating her chosen route onto the canvas. However, she has also added some new techniques to her repertoire such as a darker palette. similar to that of the masters of the Dutch Golden Age such as Rembrandt or Peter Paul Rubens.
