July 23, 2020 - August 22, 2020
Exhibition install images Andrew Curtis Photography
ARTIST STATEMENT (abridged)
Most works from Fragment(ed) were created between November 2019 and June 2020, half during polarised political divides, bushfires in Australia and environmental urgencies and the 2nd half during the COVID-19 crisis. Inspiration was found from my everyday world, from wild thistles in France, to European Magpies in my neighbour’s yard. Such instability resonated throughout these images in subtle ways. A seagull hovers on shaky ground, the gladiolus flowers disjointed and cut up, indigo woodcuts polarise and intercept the tranquil watercolour Dutch landscapes. Some works sit on shelves, intimate and fragile – fragments of time leaning into the stability of wall, holding onto a tiny element of solidity in a most unstable time. Others are a pure expression of gratitude for the beautiful moments nature has provided whilst in lockdown.
‘The News Pounded II’, (a title borrowed by Patti Smith in her fabulous book I was reading in January 2020 ‘The year of the monkey’), was an epic work to complete and I really loved seeing this one through to its end. The energy and rhythm, the sharp and soft, it’s a life force. It refuses to yield to the pounding. It is a centre-piece full of life in all its subtle and harsh beauty.