Lost in Translation

Lost in Translation by Anthony Carey, a dark blue textured painting showing a solitary elongated figure facing into a vast, shadowy space.
  • Detail of Lost in Translation showing the figure’s heavily textured surface built from blue, turquoise, pink, yellow and red paint.

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  • Surface detail of Lost in Translation showing layered blue-grey paint, scraped marks and partially concealed passages of orange and red.

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About the work

Lost in Translation began without a predetermined figure or setting. As I worked with acrylic and plaster, the solitary form emerged from the surface, turned away and facing into a space I could not fully identify. I left the figure unresolved rather than deciding where it had come from or where it might be going.


The title is not concerned only with translation between languages. For me, it also relates to displacement, being misunderstood and carrying something that cannot be fully communicated to someone who has not experienced it. The figure’s turned back seems important: we can see its physical presence, but whatever it carries remains its own.


The surrounding space developed with the figure but never resolved itself into a particular place. A dark vertical passage, scattered areas of colour and downward drips interrupt the blue, offering fragments from which a setting might be imagined without allowing one to become certain.


Artwork details
2024
Acrylic and plaster on canvas
80 × 60 cm
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