I love...: Anchor Studies – An Exhibition in progress for 2014

Anchor Studies – An Exhibition in progress for 2014

A body of work comprising a series of ink and watercolour works on 640gsm Arches paper 1016 x 1524mm (approximately 11); and 15 smaller works 500 x 500mm.

The motivation behind this body of work is that of exploring and offering a little stillness. The work attempts to offer a comparison between ‘sensation’ and ‘thought of sensation’ as a point of reflection, and experience of the body. Through a two-pronged approach (in method, medium and composition) the paintings offer sensuality as either a feeling or a study and accentuate the need for opposites to co-exist.

The two painting styles harmonise through colour palette and concept. But differ in approach. The smaller works, ‘anchor studies’ are considered, slow and sensitive to intricate detail and observation. They are self contained and quiet images. The repetition of the same anchor form emphasizes a study/obsessive approach that often contradicts the stillness, but alludes to patience and a resigned slowness. The larger figurative ‘anchors’ are the opposite, fluid and soft, emotive and expressive, often escaping its page, and form.

In the larger works I want the medium to emulate a feeling of stillness. Light, loose ink washes, layers of cool pools of ink and watercolour paint with resonating heavy indigo and Prussian/ultra violet/umber intersections, all woven together in overlapping figurative forms. The composition often navigates the play between double images and shadows. I use veils of opaque, white gouache detail to soften areas further, creating translucent, fading forms and layers. There is a focus on leaving areas of the paper clean and blank for breathing space.

This is a reflection on anchoring the body, tying in with the accompanying work I have been making of actual ‘anchor’ studies - a group of repetitive images of an anchor, gradually accumulating detailed detritus and organic matter that transform the inanimate object into an evolving organic hiding space or nest.

The body of work is suited to spacious and light filled gallery space. Ideally with high vaulted ceilings reminiscent of a church,

a place of stillness and reflection – and the light and airy nature of the space provides a direct contrast to the dark, heavy nature of the anchor, and this contrast is explored within the works themselves.

The work draws on an ongoing fascination with the double image and shadows as compositional and conceptual basis upon which to explore. It has been a recurring aspect within past bodies of work, particularly emphasised in the show ‘Shadow Stories’ a body of work produced in Chennai, India during a residency in 2008 and ‘Construction Sites’ in Binalong in 2010 based on the objectified consumer approach to building a life. Both mentioned lead to a fascination with sensory disengagement, leading to a thread of shows in 2011 that ‘Anchor Studies’ follows directly on from thematically¹. In 2010, my rationale for the double was filtered through a lens of existential rebellion… wondering the age old thing: if, to exist is to be observed? Or if a lone tree falls in a forest does it make a sound? Parallel universes and other multi-verse theories were lightly explored. A heavy and tangled mess of ideas as a point of departure, I am continuing on this journey now of not necessarily the study of figuring out connection, but the rather the feeling of it, hence my aim on trying to generate sensation, not ideas. Where better a place to start than the sensation of stillness.

My aim is to re-sensitize for greater connection to the world and if I can do this within my own creative practice, through various considered challenges I wondered if I could share this on a wider platform in context with today’s multitasking mentality and fast paced society. It may earn a spot of reflection for people engaged in a similar pressure zone, not demanding you to cut and paste thought, but to slow down, feel and engage.