Tuesday, May 04, 2010

PRESENCE

                               The Presence of Angels Oil on linen 60 x 100 cm

I am having a small exhibition PRESENCE in Maleny, that lovely township in the green and undulating hinterland behind Queensland's Sunshine Coast. My parents retired to Maleny just over 20 years ago, so it is kind of like going home. I have exhibited in Maleny 3 times before. Once in 1994 and then twice more recently. The two recent shows were at The Upfront Club and my next show will be there too. http://www.upfrontclub.org/

DETAILS:
Title of Exhibition: PRESENCE
Dates: Thursday 20 – Tuesday 15 June 2010
Venue: Upfront Club, 31 Maple St, Maleny. 07 5494 2592 http://www.upfrontclub.org/
Opening Event: Thursday 20 May 6 pm – 8 pm

ABOUT PRESENCE
PRESENCE will be an exhibition of oil on linen and works on paper paintings exploring the potency of archetypal symbols, particularly the trans-cultural/religious tree-of-life.

I investigate what these symbols may mean in the 21st century as we live locally in an increasingly globalised world. I play with perspective to deliberately create ambiguous images which provoke questions about how we view ourselves and others. I believe I do not actually finish my paintings, because every conversation, whether within oneself or with others, provides a completion. Thus, there is the exiting potential for multiple completions and life beyond.

The exhibition is called PRESENCE to suggest that by exploring new perspectives we may see and feel things which we may not otherwise see or feel. Maybe we will find a way to imagine and then 'find' other dimensions?

The painting below was inspired my daughter when she was about 3 years old when she looked out from our verandah to our garden and exclaimed, 'Look Mummy the leaves are dancing.' Trust a child to see and feel something which I had not. I am so glad she reminded me to look, see and feel.

                                                        The Leaves Are Dancing Oil on linen 36 x 36 cm

ABOUT THE ARTIST...MOI
I grew up on the flat plains of the Darling Downs in rural Queensland. In this relentless space, as a small child, I dreamt I could fly. This ‘experience’ has inspired my explorations of literal and metaphoric perspective.

I have an extensive exhibition history in S.E Queensland as well as exhibiting overseas where I have held solo exhibitions in London 2002, Dubai 2004 and Abu Dhabi 2005 and have been included in group exhibitions in Seoul and Dubai.

Exhibiting in the Middle East, and the conversations I shared with people from across the region, has propelled my explorations of literal and metaphoric perspective. I am passionate about art’s potential, as a catalytic agent to inspire agenda-less, but not directionless, conversations which collapse the distance of difference to reveal similarities.

Since 2008, when I last exhibited at the Upfront Club, I have been a finalist in 14 art awards, including the Stanthorpe, Prometheus and Tattersall’s art awards.

My Mother, Elsie Brimblecombe exhibited HIDDEN CITIES [inspired by Italo Calvino's book of the same name] last year at the Upfront Club and will be exhibiting new paintings in October this year. My niece, Edie Brimblecombe will be exhibiting at the Upfront Club in September.



MORE NEWS

Oline communities which may interest some of you?
I have recently joined the Wiserearth online community. Here's a link to its BLOG http://blog.wiserearth.org/

Another online community which I belong to is The Peace and Collaborative Development Network http://www.internationalpeaceandconflict.org/ There is a constant stream of interesting links, jobs, conferences and so on. Anyone working in the area of peace and Conflict Studies will find mountains of resources.

And...another is Art Action Union http://artactionunioncommunity.ning.com/

WHAT I AM READING
I am nearly finished Martin Rees's book 'Our Final Century'. It is not a large book, but it sure has some huge ideas, even with topics dealing with nano sized investigations and inventions! Whilst he postulates various cataclysmic scenarios regarding the potential demise of humankind and even the planet, Rees's sense of wonder shines through with a freshness that makes the book far from depressing. A sense of wonder is a gift...and one I hope to never lose. I mentioned this book in a recent post http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2010/04/idea-sketches.html


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

4 comments:

Kay said...

Congratulations on the shows and these two paintings are ethereal, lovely

Unknown said...

Super theme for an exhibition! Incredible talent.

Love the first picture especially. Imagining it as a sphere or cylinder.

Did Martin Rees have any new suggestions for policy? What can we do collectively? I read he envisioned humanity taking to the stars. A bold vision but likely to be ruled out by the massive energy requirements - energy needed for life on Earth.

Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox said...

Hi James,

Again thank-you for your comments about my paintings!

Yes, Rees does suggest we may take to the starts...but not necessarily as humans, but maybe humanoids, or even some kind of spore that is sent via some kind of satelite to the outer reaches of the future to seek inhabitable environments. He keeps an open mind on what future sources of energy might be, thus he does not impose contemporary energy impediments on imagining what life in the future might be like or where it might exist. He postulates various scenarios for life in the future, including complete annihilation.

Whilst warning of the dire problems of nuclear weapons, greenhouse gasses and so on, Rees suggests that the more probable and dangerous scenario is that some kind of nanobot replicating predator or a biological contagion developed by aberrant fanatical groups or individuals pose the greatests threats to life.

Whilst he does not spell out policy suggestions, I take from the book a few things:
1. That he believes we should keep open minds.
2. We must examine risk very closely weighing up the benefits against worst case scenarios eg: the development of manmade substances, experiments etc
3. That the cyber world,rather than bringing people together may, in fact, isolate people into groups causing community and real life interaction almost non-existent...and thus enabling aberrant groups or individuals and their activites go un-noticed before it is too late. Rees makes a suggestion that communication, community inter-action etc are important to assist in safeguarding humanity.


Cheers,
Kathryn

Unknown said...

Yes, more risks than we expect.

Sounds like Martin Rees needs to see more online communities that support communications and policies that address those risks. Have invited him to this one, http://www.wiserearth.org/group/systems/ where great art is stimulating more discussion from more perspectives.