Friday, September 24, 2010

COSMIC DUST


 
                                Cosmic Dust Oil on linen 120 x 160 cm

This new painting above has been in my mind's eye for awhile. I wanted to create an image which exposed the possibility of the nano and vast at the same time. So, whilst I had in mind an 'landscape' image of the Earth in space, I wanted to pose the possibility that our idea of 'landscape' can be untethered from Earth... that maybe a sub-atomic entity or at the other extreme even a whole Universe provide new perspectives of what 'landscape' really is.

I have recently finished reading 'Just Six Numbers' by Martin Rees, Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics and Master of Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. In this book he analyses the six numbers that explain the sensitive balance of the Universe we inhabit. Whilst reading this book I could not help but think about some of my previously expressed ideas on perspective, and more significantly on the need to learn skills in 'seeing' multi perspectives simultaneously. To understand not only our globalised world in which we live locally, but to appreciate the 'world' beyond our sky, beyond our galaxy and even further, we need to 'see' the accelerating distances in the nano and the vast. If we 'see' them we can understand why preserving life and our environment is important ...because the human race may not have anywhere else to go!

In Cosmic Dust   I have painted a circle with two trees...yes my much loved transcultural/religious tree-of-life. These trees meet at their trunks. One tree is painted in cool colours and the other in warm ,representing change through cycles. The 'tree ball' is encircled by a glimmer of white light, which represents anything and everything from Earth's atmosphere, to reflected sunlight, to divine light and more. The background seems to move with suggested light and colour, depth and space... substance of existence?

I have used my tree-of-life, as regular readers would know, to represent life in all its systematic processes. The tree, in an instant, can be read as the vascular-like force of life whether it be at sub-atomic, atomic, human, planetary or universal levels. It can be read as any kind of system with an impulse to create and sustain life. It branches out and roots itself into the 'landscape' of all existence.

As I painted Cosmic Dust I found myself constantly moving back and forth to examine the image from close and far distances. I have written about what I call the 'artist's dance' before, commenting that it could be a metaphor for how we need to view our world [local, global and universal]. We need to move! My mother has just seen Cosmic Dust and I was very pleased to see her doing the 'artist's dance' too. She even commented on what the painting looked like when she viewed it up close, and then from a distance. And, I did not tell her to do this! I like to think the 'artist's dance' is a clue to the artistry of living life to its fullest.

The title Cosmic Dust signifies that subatomic, atomic, human, planetry and even universal entities are the dust created in those nano seconds after the Big Bang. As the dust  coalesced into the material substance of life, it makes one think about our connection to everything. The 'landscape' of life lives through us and beyond.

B AWARE exhibition

I have had 5 paintings chosen for this exciting exhibition: Here's links to 2 of them:
http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2008/07/earth-for-sale-120-x-160-cm-oil-on.html
http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2007/07/thank-goodness.html

'B Aware' is a curated exhibition organised by the 8GG, Eight Goals Group, which is a group of concerned Anglicans raising awareness of global issues surrounding social justice and poverty as outlined in the UN's Millennium Development Goals, 2000.

 
Dates: 8-21 October 2010. Daily 9.30 am - 4.30 pm


Opening: Friday 8 October 6.30pm. To be opened by Archbishop Dr. Phillip Aspinall.


Free entry. All art is for sale.
Artists selected for 'B Aware' include Proppa NOW group artists, Gordon Hookey, Jennifer Herd and Richard Bell: Young refugees from Brisbane's Milpera High School...Plus...Glenda Orr, Clinton Cross, Karen Kaese,Vincent Serico, Cernak Cernak, Meryn Jones, Jennifer Andrews, Kerry Holland, Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox, Michael Baartz, Joe Nalo, John Suine and many more. Artists are from PNG, Indigenous and local communities. The curator is Joan Winter.
The UN's 8 Millenium Goals, agreed upon by 189 countries in 2000, focus upon eradication of hunger and poverty, achievement of universal primary education, gender equality and empowerment of women, reduction of child mortality, improvement of child mortality, combatting HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases, ensurement of environmental sustainability and the support of a global partnership for development.


http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=lf#!/event.php?eid=114955445225116

Cheers,
Kathryn.
http://www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com/

1 comment:

Audubon Ron said...

I'm detecting an emergent style I think is in slight contrast. Motif, color, stroke the same but composition and for lack of a better descriptor your "eye" has shifted into a new dimension. As you know I like everything I've seen to date, but prefer the ethereal.