Gabriela Wayne
Reddam House
NOTHING ERASED BUT MUCH SUBMERGED
Painting
Acrylics on canvas
Memory is something we should be intrinsically grateful for, yet ironically it is often consigned to oblivion until you observe its deterioration first-hand. It was this concept that guided me towards the formulation of my body of work, concocting a visual representation of the indescribable and seemingly unimaginable experience of unwillingly surrendering to a 'fog' that glazes your eyes and clouds your memory. By embracing abstraction's departure from accurate expression, my intent is to implore the viewer to contemplate whether memory truly erases, or is it rather submerged, deeply, within the fragmentation and dilution of the mind's landscape?
My artmaking practice has been influenced by the study and interpretation of the following artists: Paul Bennett, Alison Johnson, Bill Henson.
Marker's Commentary
This ambitious series of abstract acrylic paintings evoke multiple land and sky scapes without being tied to specific settings. In their generic form, they are mindscapes, symbolic for shifting states of remembrance. As form disappears into abstraction so too does memory fade, morph and dissipate over time. Three large paintings are accompanied by multiple smaller canvasses. Each offers a different vista with pockets of sharpness and clarity being offset by immersive, hazy, cloud forms. Flows of colour traverse across the surface forming ethereal worlds and evoking turmoil, intimacy and isolation. In deference to grand Romantic traditions this body of work invites its audience to experience, not just see, the glory and despair.
Deep pools of colour draw the eye in to explore a complicated landscape of twisted fields, open beaches, or planes and deep ravines. Brooding and sometimes ominous, the dark tones of cobalt and black suggest chasms and caverns. As they butt against pale grounds, they create a lively concerto. The larger canvasses are in part so turbulent that the moving air seems to stir the whole world. Lines swirl in motion and shafts of yellow and pure light shift and glow as if enlightenment has been attained or memory has clarity. Sweeping brush strokes and careful blending of tone and hue create gradations that impart a spiritual drama.
In some of the smaller paintings, haze and ethereal cloud patterns generate the illusion of distant mirages. Peaceful and anticipatory sensations achieved through the controlled use of white evoke vast space accentuating a visual journey that travels across the panels. It shifts to more troubling moods in the pockets of dark thus building an ominous energy. The illuminated forms and deep shadows are sensual and arresting and tap into the subconscious memory adding a feeling of mystery, history and wonder. They invite the audience to seek a pathway through encroaching fog in search of solace and sanctuary.