RUNOFF

Runoff Gouache and watercolour on paper 30 x 42 cm 2016

My last post was called PLAYING WITH AUSTRALIA . In that post I uploaded two recent AUSTRALIA paintings - and - here's another new one for you. I have been working with gouache and watercolour on paper for a few months and thoroughly enjoying it too. However, for every painting I upload, there's a few that have been ripped up or painted over. The process of painting is an ebb and flow, of feeling that a work is successful - not successful - successful - not successful and so on. 

RUNOFF

I have painted Australia as a series of colourful ribbon-like lines. The contours of the Australian continent seem to leak into what could be an ocean of water or an 'ocean' of space or an 'ocean' of metaphors claiming our imaginations. When I painted this image I was thinking of many things: our environment, current national and world politics, our national identity, globalisation, influence, brain drains, the environment, the future and more. 

FLOODS

I was inspired by some old photographs from my youth. These photos recorded a very serious flood that occurred in early 1981. The flood waters ripped gully-like contours into the deep black soil paddocks in and surrounding my parent's farm. Whilst it had rained heavily in our local area, it had also rained very heavily in the nearby Bunya Mountains. The runoff had traveled many kilometres onto the black soil Pirrnuan Plain where my parent's farm was situated. The erosion caused by the massive water runoff continues to scar the landscape. The photos below show you the extent of the water coverage. 

Pirrinuan Plain, Queensland, Australia Flood 1981

Pirrinuan Plain, Queensland, Australia Flood 1981

So, literal floodwater runoff got me thinking about currency - not only literal water currents, but also political currency, financial currency, contemporaneous-ness. What happens when things get out of control? When does political 'runoff' cause 'erosion' of confidence? Where does economic 'runoff' cause an 'erosion' of sustainability? There are questions about industrial and technological development and the 'runoffs' that erode environmental sustainability. What kinds of scars are our activities of the 20th and 21st century leaving for future generations?

Yet, water runoff as it travels to the lowest point can also replenish underground aquifers, dams, lakes and other water storages. In these cases abundance is not wasted, as the water is stored for future use. Thinking about this got me contemplating about how we might 'store' economic wealth in ways that ensure sustainability and equitable distribution to support social infrastructures. This is at the same time as allowing people to pursue their dreams.

How can we maintain political systems that provide a store of integrity that generates confidence? Are there ways to rebuild and then store, and therefore re-store, environmental safeguards eg: water, soil, air, flora and fauna?

RE-STORING LAND
I have a some experience with re-storing land. When I lived in Goondiwindi, further west than my childhood home, I was lucky enough to build two big beautiful  gardens. Both gardens were situated on a block out of town, beside a creek. However, the land had previously been overstocked, it had been eroded, and the only plants that seemed to thrive were prickly ones.

I had the land deep ripped. This is a process of digging deeply into the soil with a deep ripping machine towed behind a tractor. It allows air flow and water absorption, plus penetration of nutrients into the soil. I introduced nutrients by digging in rotten hay and cotton trash [leftover from the cotton gin]. I had large mounds of soil formed in big garden beds, and into these I planted hundreds of small tubular plants: eucalyptus, sheoaks and other native bushes and trees. They grew quickly as their roots were able to spread out and grow into the newly mounded and ripped soil. As time went by, the trees self-mulched the soil with their dropped leaves and I was able to plant smaller bushes and ground covers. Worms even reappeared! And, the prickly plants were largely eradicated.

Yes, we had floods in Goondiwindi too. Once my gardens and the remaining paddocks were deep ripped, and grasses and other foliage were restored, the flood waters did not strip the land, causing further erosion. Instead the water penetrated the soil and re-established sub-soil moisture profiles ie: stored water for the future! The runoff was collected...

Me starting one of the Goondiwindi gardens. The soil had already been deep ripped. 

So...I've written quite a bit - but I hope it helps you see how an artist draws upon a range of influences, experiences and thoughts. Runoff is a painting that proposes neither good nor bad outcomes, but I think it certainly triggers questions.

Cheers,
Kathryn
www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

PLAYING WITH AUSTRALIA

Dissolving Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 

LANDSCAPE

These two paintings are a continuation of my interest in playing with ideas of landscape and the Australian continent. You can see more of my Australian paintings in a recent post called AUSTRALIA - ONLINE EXHIBITION and another post called AUSTRALIAN LANDSCAPE CUTOUT

PLAY

These two new works on paper 'play' with Australia - its sustainability - its identity - its contours - its relationship with landscape elements both on Earth and perhaps cosmically? You might think of other ways the paintings 'play' with Australia, linking them to a range of geographic, political and social events and ideas! I know I can think of a few tangents that are not initially apparent, but upon reflection make me giggle, frown, despair, be hopeful!

Australia Turned Upside Down Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 

FEDERAL ELECTION 2016

Here in Australia we are on countdown for the next federal election on July 2. I am not looking forward to escalating pre-election sound bites that lure, repulse, ridicule, promise all kinds of offerings to electors. The news is saturated with stories, responses, predictions and more... all supposedly to help inform us. BUT, it becomes exhausting. 

This forthcoming election is a double dissolution one too ie: both houses of parliament, including the full senate are to be elected. You can read about it HERE  It has only happened 6 times since the the formation of the Australian parliament over 110 years ago. Yes, it's disruptive. Time will tell if the disruption is helpful or not. Can you 'see' how both new paintings can be 'read' as political? 

Dissolving and Australia Turned Upside Down are provocative titles.............................

CANBERRA

In the meantime, I have just returned from a few days in Canberra, Australia's capitol city and our federal political centre. I steered away from the newspapers with coverage of the recent budget and forthcoming election- instead I visited the National Gallery, a couple of wineries, Mt Stromlo observatory, Beaver Galleries and lots more. I had a great time. 

Me at Long Rail Gully Wines - outside Canberra

Cheers,
Kathryn
www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

FROM THE PRIMORDIAL SOUP

 

From The Primordial Soup Pencil on paper 2015

 

 

FROM MY DESK

This is another sketch from my desk. Yes, my desk at university, where I spend a lot of time these days. Regular readers will know I have returned to university to undertake an M. Phil [research higher degree]. So, while I am reading, writing, taking notes I try to capture some of  the images that float through my head. My sketchbook and pencils are sitting beside my notepads and library books, ready to picked up when inspiration arrives. Sometimes, it's a bit hard to capture inspiration, but the image above, I think, has been caught rather well. 

 

So, how did this image happen? What was I reading when it suddenly popped into my head? Well...I had been given a task to write 1000 words about an artwork and the chosen piece was 'The Crochet Coral Reef' curated by Margaret and Christine Wertheim. So, it's not actually a piece, but an ongoing project that includes collaborative community activities and exhibitions around the world, involving over eight thousand people [as of 2015]. Please read about it here on the Wertheim sister's website for their not-for profit Institute For Figuring [IFF] based in Los Angeles.

 

CROCHET

Yes, the 'Crochet Coral Reef' is created with the traditional women's handicraft of crochet. And, it's far more complex that you might think! The coral-like pieces created by crochet artists are also 3d representations of non-Euclidean hyperbolic geometry. 3d modelling of hyperbolic geometry had remained elusive, despite it appearing in nature ie: lettuce leaves, coral. It remained elusive until 1997 when Dr. Daina Taimina, a mathematician at Cornell University, showed how it could be modelled in 3d by creating coral-like forms using crochet, a handicraft she had learnt as a child.

 

In 2005 Margaret Wertheim, a physicist and science writer and her sister Dr. Christine Wertheim, an artist, writer and academic decided to crochet coral using Dr. Taimina's techniques. Both sisters had learnt crochet, along with other handicrafts, as children growing up in Brisbane, Australia. Christine suggested they create a coral reef. [IFF] As Australians [Queenslanders!] they had a connection to the Great Barrier Reef, one of the ten wonders of the world, and under increasing threat.

 

Please have a look at the many and various images of 'Crochet Coral Reef' marvellous exhibitions on the IFF website . There's an array of different types of exhibitions, from those where the crocheted coral is amassed to create colourful reefs, to those where amazing individual pieces are placed on plinths, taking on a prophetic gravitas.

 

ENVIRONMENT

As time has gone by, the choice of crochet material has extended beyond traditional woollen yarn to include plastic wrappers, wire, video tape and more.[IFF] This is a deliberate confrontation with the detritus of the Anthropocene, especially in the marine context. Yes, the 'Crochet Coral Reef' project is not only an expression of creative handicraft and a modelling of hyperbolic geometry, it is also deliberately placed within important environmental discourses.

 

The' Crochet Coral Reef' project seriously provokes commentary about environmental  degradation, ocean sustainability and global warning. But, hey...let's take it to the full whammy...I argue that the project warns of existential risks, those threats that may cause annihilation of humanity and the planet. However, the project's human elements ie: community collaboration and the hands-on crochet technique, unmediated by hi-tech equipment and intervention, remind us that touch and time can be reclaimed. As it confronts us, the 'Crochet Coral Reef' project also offers multiple pathways for re-thinking...the hyperbolic taking us on a roller-coaster that provides multiple perspectives.

 

So, how did my sketch From The Primordial Soup erupt from this story of crochet, hyperbolic  geometry and environmental discourses?

 

Here goes...

 

PLASTIGLOMERATE

I had previously read about a new geological term...plastiglomerate! Yes, it is actually a geological term to describe a new rock, a mixture of natural materials combined with plastic, being delivered from the sea. You can read about plastiglomerate on the Geological Society of America GSA Today website.

 

With this new 'rock' in mind, it's easy to see confluence with the multi-material morphed coral forms in 'Crochet Coral Reef' exhibitions eg: check out the 2014 exhibition at NYU in Abu Dhabi and the 2015 one in San Antonio, Texas.

 

As I thought more about plastiglomerate and pondered the far reaching critical possibilities of 'The Crochet Coral Reef' project I asked questions. Is plastiglomerate a metaphor for a new kind of birth, a mutation where detritus and DNA are mixed? Are we witnessing a prophetic delivery where mutations are, in fact, inevitable? Have they already occurred in other areas so far undetected? As landscape coughs up these new entities, what is humanity's fate?

 

Given that life may have begun in the primordial ocean I think it is interesting that plastiglomerate has been created in, and delivered by, our 21st century oceans. This is what inspired From The Primordial Soup.

 

 

Sap Of Life Oil on linen 55 x 80 cm 2012

 

 

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

 

DAMNED

Damned Gouache on paper 21 x 30 cm 2011

 

 

ENVIRONMENT IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Recently, in the news, there was a report about an abandoned silver mine near Texas in S.W Queensland on the border of New South Wales, Australia. Contaminated ponds pose risks to the local Dumaresqu River, which flows into the McIntyre River, which then flows southwards into the Murray Darling. Apparently, it only needs a minimal amount of rain to fall to cause havoc with overflow into the river systems.

 

This kind of situation is totally unacceptable, especially in the 21st century where no-one, mining companies and governments, can claim ignorance of environmental sustainability issues.

 

DAMNED

The work on paper above Damned [and detail below] was painted a few years ago, but it still 'speaks'...even 'screams' to us today. The word 'damned' is repeated to appear like water in a holding facility, such as a dam or a pond. It could also be the bed of a river or creek. Obviously I am playing with the word dam!

 

To be damned is a serious thing - conjuring an array of different possibilities from the wrath of God to condemnation, anger, frustration and denouncement. And...if we pollute and contaminate our waterways we are damned in a way that potentially threatens our very existence!

 

 

Detail Damned Gouache on paper 21 x 30 cm 2011

 

 

VALUE

The thought that human existence, along with plants and non-human animals, can be threatened by contaminated water may seem extreme, but we are all interconnected in such a way that even a small risk must be taken seriously.

 

The news report mentioned above is just one story, but there are many potential stories like it. Questions about 'value', normally referring to money, dominate debates. Who pays reparation, especially when a mine, or similar, goes into liquidation and there is no money left to maintain or fix? This is compounded when governments have requested inadequate financial assurances at planning or approval stages. While people wait for an answer it could rain and tip the water level in contaminated ponds into wider catchments with potentially devastating results. What is value and what is valued?

 

RISK

In my painting Risk [below and Detail underneath] I have painted strips of rain, water in a dam or creek/river bed, and underground aquifers in small blue $ signs. The word 'Risk' is also painted in small $ signs, but the colour red signals a warning, perhaps multiple warnings, about how we value money, water, life and existence.

 

Risk is not a condemnation of money as a symbol of exchange. Rather, it is a provocation to think about the many aspects of value.

 

CURRENCY

And, there's a play with notions of currency! The currency of water as it ebbs and flows, a system of money in use in a country, being current - contemporary, implied momentum within a system such as political currency.

 

Maybe if we take risk seriously - currency in all its permutations will be re-negotiated, re-imagined even?

 

 

 

Risk Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2010 [Sold]

 

 

 

 Detail Risk Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2010 [Sold]

 

 

LANDSCAPE

The two paintings above Damned and Risk are landscapes - loaded ones! Regular readers know of my love of landscape and my attempts to re-think what landscape is in the 21st century. I have my cosmic landscape which try to untether notions of landscape from Earth-bound horizons. I also have my Earth-based ones, such as the two above. Yet, the link is imaging the future...

 

 

 

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

PRIVILEGED LANDSCAPE?

Privileged Landscape? Oil on linen 80 x 140 cm 2015

Privileged Landscape? is another of my cosmic landscapes. Yes, there's Earth with a cut-out of Australia floating around in space, but still tethered to Earth via a thin ribbon.

The title, a question itself, poses many more...is the Australian landscape privileged? If it is, who or what privileges it? What about all the other national landscapes? What about an Earth landscape? What happens if one landscape is privileged over another? And, could the landscape infer other kinds of 'landscape' like a political or economic one?

Pale Blue Dot
When I was painting this painting, I was thinking about the influence of the famous photograph taken from the spacecraft Voyage 1 as it left the solar system in 1991. At Carl Sagan's suggestion the camera was turned back towards Earth and the subsequent photograph called Pale Blue Dot entered into humanity's image lexicon. The perspective of Earth as literally a pale blue dot against a vast universal landscape had a profound impact on people who questioned how special Earth and humanity are? From this vast distance no discernible characteristics of Earth's landscape were identifiable...in a sense landscape, as we know it, disappeared. However, I propose that a new cosmic or universal landscape made an appearance in a reality that had never been documented before. With its appearance, perspective was able to reveal itself as a magnificent and flexible lens to probe the close and far distances of the Universe.

Perspective as a Tool
So, using perspective as a lens or tool, how special is any one country, continent, nation, state? If we think about the sustainability of the planet, privileging any landscape becomes problematic. Indeed, for humanity to survive we need the planet to be nurtured as a whole. Whilst potential Earth-like planets may have been discovered, orbiting the Goldilocks zones of distant stars, there is currently no alternative home for humanity. This is likely to be the situation for a long time. We need to think of Earth as a living whole landscape ... a landscape that exists in a horizon of time and scale that is universal, and possibly multiversal. Our survival may depend on it...

I entered a similar painting to Privileged Landscape? in this year's Wynne Prize which is awarded annually for 'the best landscape painting of Australian scenery in oils or watercolours or for the best example of figure sculpture by Australian artists’. Alas, my entry was not selected as a finalist. I will upload it in a blog post in the coming weeks. Many of my thoughts expressed above were also drivers for my Wynne Prize entry. Plus, I liked to think it critiqued, in an expansive way, the privileging of the Australian landscape in the prize criteria which was set in 1895, ninety-five years before Pale Blue Dot!

___________________________________________________________

NEWS

CODE

Exhibition of new paintings.

Doors open Tuesday 21 July at 10 am!

Exhibition Dates: Tuesday July 21 - Sunday August 2

Open Daily: 10 am - 6 pm

Graydon Gallery, 29 Merthyr Rd, new Farm, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

For more images and words please visit  BLOG page for CODE

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

THE VALUE OF LANDSCAPE

Halo Oil on linen 82 x 182 cm 2009

Around the world people are concerned about issues of climate change and global warming. All kinds of pollution compromise our environment, ultimately causing changes to the quality of life-sustaining elements such as land, air, water, soil and more. The big issue is how humanity's actions impact on not just life-sustaining elements, but climate in general. Halo [above] depicts the Earth created by a tree-of-life which is encircled by a 'halo' of white... representing our atmosphere.

I remember in the late 60s, when I was at primary school, learning about various kinds of pollution . That's a long time ago and we are still battling with, and arguing about, ways to mitigate pollution and its insidious effects. Obviously attempts have been made, but new technologies create new kinds of waste and pollution, and rising consumerism and industrial/technological 'progress' not only in the west, but also in developing countries, creates excess and demand. The recent movie Gravity starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney uses a real modern day pollution issue as the catalyst for an action packed storyline. The pollution is space debris...yep in just over 55 years since the first satellite went into space we have created what's called 'orbital space debris'! I recently wrote about this in my post Something About Space

Why did I call this post The Value Of Landscape? Yes, it is a 'loaded' title! As we draw financial value from the literal landscape [mining, agriculture, urban development etc] are we losing sight of its real value which goes way beyond the monetary? In my last post Knowing Landscape - Art and Science I wrote Landscape is an integral part of humanity's experience of life. It orientates us, feeds us, provides energy for us, induces awe, challenges us and gives us a place to call 'home'. It can embrace us and it can also annihilate us, and at both extremes, and in the spaces in between there are reminders that we are part of the body of landscape. We are never really separate from it. Indeed, when we die it enfolds us as we return to dust. At some time in the far distant future Earth will also return to star dust, as a result of our Sun's death throes. 

Earth For Sale Oil on linen 120 x 160 cm 2008

This ambiguous 'landscape' is painted with small $ signs.

 

 

DEPICTION OF LANDSCAPE
But, what about the depiction of landscape and its 'value' to humanity? Yep, The Value Of Landscape is definitely a loaded title! Since humankind could pick up drawing utensils, the depiction of landscape [and landscape elements] orientated people physically as well as emotionally and spiritually. Myths, stories and legends drew upon landscape, and landscape elements, as metaphors for various aspects of human existence. These stories were illustrated or illuminated through various artforms across time. Landscape depiction certainly has a long and fascinating history...one which has a deep underlying value to humanity's sense of self, space and place.

But, what of contemporary landscape depiction? There are still artists who faithfully reproduce real landscapes scenes with traditional techniques and those who use super-reality contemporary methods. There are artists who photograph landscape, artists who manipulate landscape and its elements in more abstract ways, environmentally concerned artists who depict the destruction of landscape reminding the viewer of loss, fantasy artists who create magical landscapes as if trying to recapture the untouched environment...and so on.

Galactic Horizons and Beyond Oil on linen 85 x 150 cm 2012

UNTETHERING LANDSCAPE
Regular readers have probably worked out where I am going next! Yep, let's untether concepts of landscape depiction from earth-bound horizons and explore the new perspectives [of close and far distance] that contemporary cosmological [the study of the Universe] research has revealed. Untethering does not mean we abandon Earth-bound landscape depiction! It just means we may see it differently and in doing so potentially assist in discovering new ways of 'seeing' our environmental issues. These new ways of 'seeing' may stimulate different questions...and subsequently reveal the answers our Earth environment needs.

But, even the concept of environment changes when 'seen' with the perspectives revealed by cosmology! As I have previously written, cosmic perspectives orientate us, and Earth, within a Universal environment...Earth maybe our home, but the Universe is our environment.

Cosmic Address Oil on linen 90 x 180cm 2013

 

 

Cheers,
Kathryn
www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

SOMETHING ABOUT SPACE:

Where?  Oil on linen 50 x 50 cm 2013

Yesterday I saw the new movie GRAVITY starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock. I LOVED it. I was on the edge of my seat, totally gripped, for the entire film.

So why did I love it? Apart from the beauty of Earth seen from space, and the excitement of a catastrophic disaster in space, with people attempting to overcome unimaginable obstacles [one after the other], GRAVITY, at one level, is a story based on a real concern. And, it is a story that needs to be told in the 21st century because of this concern. Essentially the film is about manmade space debris causing mayhem as it hurtles, in this case, at great speed in repeated orbit around the Earth.

The space debris in GRAVITY is the result of two satellites colliding, causing large and small pieces of super engineered craft to become a repeating debris hailstorm. Catastrophically, some of these pieces of debris smash into other satellites and spacecraft, including the one our protagonists are working on. And, when I say working on... they are literally outside, attempting to make repairs.

Other Worlds Ahoy! Oil on linen 80 x 90 cm 2013

IT'S A STORY!
Now, at this point we need to remember that GRAVITY is a story, a fiction. Indeed, there have been a number of scientists who have clearly detailed how many of the actions, situations, pieces of equipment etc are not factually correct or possible [you can Google them].

And, as the film's director Alphonso Cuaron has said, It is not a documentary. It is a piece of fiction. 

But, many stories/fictions are sparked by reality where a fear, a desire, a suggestion, a possibility, especially proposed by science, stimulates creative juices.

REALITY!
So let's talk reality! In 2009 there was an actual collision between two satellites. The US Motorola owned Iridium communications satellite and an old deactivated Russian Cosmos 2251 satellite collided on February 10th 2009. This collision added to an already existing list of human-made debris in space.

Space debris has become a concern and NASA tracks every identified piece. Why? Because, debris, even one piece, may hit something important! And, the more debris there is, the likelihood of impacts is increased.  Orbital debris is considered the biggest threat to each shuttle mission, and every orbiter comes back with a number of small dings. [ABC News: An Unprecedented Space Collision, Feb 2009]

Here's some examples of space debris, as described on NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office: Derelict spacecraft and upper stages of launch vehicles, carriers for multiple payloads, debris intentionally released during spacecraft separation from its launch vehicle or during mission operations, debris created as a result of spacecraft or upper stage explosions or collisions, solid rocket motor effluents, and tiny flecks of paint released by thermal stress or small particle impacts.

Please read more at NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office...fascinating reading. Yes, they will shift the International Space Station [ISS] to avoid space debris! This happens!

LITTERING...FOR HOW LONG?
How long has it taken humankind to set up a situation where human-made space debris is a concern, so- much-so that it provides a stimulus for artistic license to incredibly extrapolate fears and dangers in a film like GRAVITY? Well, that would be since 1957 when the Russians launched the first satellite, Sputnik 1. It has taken us only around 55 years to litter space...or a part of space that's really important to us. The part where satellites, that keep us communicating, navigating, orientating, entertained, observing and more, orbit. Space debris is a 21st century problem.

GRAVITY is a reminder that our environment extends beyond our planet and its atmosphere!

 

BACK ON EARTH
So, this brings me to something I wondered about when I watched GRAVITY. In the film the hailstorm of debris wipes out numerous satellites, including the International Space Station [ISS]. I wondered if back-on-Earth, as a result of satellite reliant systems failure, airplanes fell out of the sky, the internet collapsed, ships went off course, financial systems went array...and more. The film gives few clues to what happened on Earth while feats of super-human endurance were enacted in space by Sandra Bullock's character, Dr. Stone...oh that's right it's just a story!

VISUAL METAPHORS
There are some visual metaphors that create subliminal connectors throughout the film. These relate to foetal positions, pods, first steps, umbilical cords, birth and birth canals, letting go, rebirth... Mother. I could write more on this, but maybe another time! Sandra Bullock, aka Dr. Stone's, emergence from the water where she crash lands, is a metaphor of birth or rebirth. This could be interpreted not just a new life for her, but also humanity.

EARTH MAYBE OUR HOME BUT THE UNIVERSE IS OUR ENVIRONMENT
GRAVITY, whilst it deals with only a miniscule section of space, clearly sends a message that 'environment' is something more than our planet Earth.


Southern Hemisphere Summer Space Program
In January2013 I attended the Southern Hemisphere Summer Space Program White Paper: Common Horizons delivery at the University of South Australia. The program is a five week intensive interdisciplinary program from the International Space University, hosted by the University of South Australia. My daughter attended the program...and did not want it to end because because it was so wonderful, stimulating and challenging. The White Paper focuses upon the management of space resources whilst providing recommendations on space sustainability through policy, awareness and technology. 

The White Paper discusses, among other issues, the topic of space debris, addressing it as a threat to space sustainability.

My daughter and I would highly recommend anyone with an interest in space and the various issues that are confronting us and will confront us as we move through the 21st century, to undertake the Southern Hemisphere Summer Space Program. 

In 2013 about 40 people completed the course. Some were undergrads, some graduates, some PhD students, and some who were already working in the industry or associated. Most were from a science or engineering background, but there was one from a law/humanities area...my daughter. Yes, the program is definitely cross and inter disciplinary! Apart from the science and engineering aspects, the program deals with legal and policy issues, cultural impacts, environmental horizons, international collaboration and more.

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OSCAR AWARDS UPDATE 3-3-14
Gravity has won 7 Oscars, including best Director. 
Knew it was a great movie!

 

Cheers,
Kathryn
www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

LET THERE BE LIGHT-Small Online Exhibition.

 Halo Oil on linen 82 x 183 cm 2009

 

I am working on a new painting. In the meantime I thought I'd 'curate' an online exhibition of a few of my paintings which 'speak' of light...in all its literal and metaphoric ways.

 

HALO

 

Halo [above] is a painting I have written about a few times. I'll admit to being very fond of this painting. The image of Earth with a 'halo' of atmosphere surrounding it has a few stories attached to it. I painted this on the 25th anniversary of my cousin Dr. Bill From's death on Mt Everest. He was killed when he slipped on an icey patch as he and his climbing mates were descending. More of the details are HERE. Funny thing is, when I painted Halo I was thinking about Bill, but I did not realise it was the month of the anniversairy or his birthday, until I googled his name to see if there was any online news about the attempt to climb Mt Everest.

 

Bill had just completed hi PhD [UQ] in ionospheric physics. He was literally studying Earth's atmosphere.

 

This painting is currently hanging in my lounge room and I love it.

 

 

 

 The Colour Of Knowledge Oil on linen 62 x 82 cm 2009

 

 

THE COLOUR OF KNOWLEDGE

 

The Colour Of Knowledge is another of my favourite pieces [I have lots!] If you want to read more please click HERE.

 

Briefly, the figures of Adam and Eve are central to the visual story. As Eve takes from the tree-of-knowledge antimonies enter the world giving rise to knowledge in the spaces between [eg: good and evil]. Knowedge is illuminatory and revelatory. In this painting knowledge is represented by the colour that cascades from the white light of Adam and Eve's existence prior to Eve taking from the tree-of-knowledge ie: when they could not see their differences. 

 

 

 

 Finding The Light Oil on linen 100 x 70 cm 2010

 

 

FINDING THE LIGHT

 

Here's a quote from my earlier post for this painting:

I have called this painting 'Finding The Light', because it implies a search which results in discovery. 'Light' can represent knowledge, discovery. It can also represent faith. It can represent the Divine. It can represent finding oneself. Coupled with the tree-of-life/knowledge it can represent LIFE.

I have created the 'light' with the small dots which cascade over the woman inside the vortex. This 'light' spills into the trees like veins pulsing through life's membranes.

 

Finding The Light is currently hanging in my guest bedroom and it looks great. There are windows on each side, the walls are painted a soft yellow...and every time I walk past the room and look in, I feel good!

 

 

Becoming The Light oil on linen 160 x120 cm 2012

 

 

BECOMING THE LIGHT

 

Every time I look at this painting I am surprised. Why? Because, it glimmers! A photo does not capture the glimmer and that's a shame. However, I do think that surprising paintings will never reveal their secrets in a photo...otherwise the photo would be the work of art!

 

The female figure, enclosed within a vortex, shimmers with light. As she relishes the peace at the quiet core of the vortex she is ready for illumination. As regular readers will notice my  transcultural/religious tree-of-life plays an important part in the matrix. Its pattern repeats across the painting, revealing energy forces and dynamics which propel and nurture.

 

 Seeking The Light Oil on linen 36 x 36 cm 2012

 

SEEKING THE LIGHT

 

I wrote in an earlier post,  the female figure, representing Mother Nature, seems to attract light. Her arms and feet erupt with vascular-like trees connecting her to whatever energy it is that propels life.

 

This small painting is hanging in a nook in my lounge room. Like the others above, whenever I look at it or it catches my eye, I feel a need to keep looking. It does really 'light up' the nook where it hangs. It seems to move, and as the light of day changes, it changes.

 

 

 The Quiet Fierceness of Light Oil on linen 90 x 180 cm 2012

 

 

QUIET FIERCENESS OF LIGHT

I did have this painting hanging above my dining room table, but it has SOLD. So, it now hangs in a lovely new place. And, it looks great too.

I wrote in an earlier post, In 'Quiet Fierceness of Light' a figure of a woman reaches across the canvas, as if she is straddling the depths of time. A flame of light provides a force which seems to propel her. But she garners this light in the spaces between the branches of the trees which erupt from her arms and legs.

and

The light in 'Quiet Fierceness of Light' is more about the light of knowledge...of ourselves, others and the universe. It is with and through knowledge that we shed light across the pathways of life. The light imbues us with wonder as it calls forth both beckoning and shining the way. Light that beckons is where we find challenge, drawing us towards it. If we are game we meet its glow.

There is more to 'Quiet Fierceness of Light', but I'll leave that to you, the viewer. I leave you to travel your own journey with light!

 The Birth Of Knowledge and Faith Oil on linen 120 x 160 cm

 

 

 THE BIRTH OF KNOWLEDGE AND FAITH

 

This is may artist's statement for the 2012 Mandorla Art Prize, perth, Australia: This painting was selected as one of the finalists.

 

Two transcultural/religious trees-of-life/knowledge emanate from a woman’s outstretched arms and feet. She is the ‘sacred feminine’. In forming a circle she ‘sings’ and ‘dances’ her elemental grace of life continuance. More specifically I was thinking of two biblical women, one from the Old Testament and one from the New, Eve and Mary.

As Eve took from the tree she gave ‘birth’ to Knowledge in the spaces between antimonies. As Mother Mary gave birth to Jesus, the ‘Light of the World’, she also gave birth to Faith.

I imagine that as Eve took from the tree, the world cascaded into the colours and hues that allowed Adam and Eve to ‘see’ each other. I ‘see’ colour as representing Knowledge. In this painting the multi coloured trees and the ‘sacred feminine’ figure are surrounded by halo-like white light. The two trees also meet in a pulse of white. This white light represents Faith.

 

Until next time:
Cheers,
Kathryn
www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

UNTETHERING LANDSCAPE: REVOLUTIONARY?

Cosmic Dust Oil on linen 120 x 160 cm

This year's, entry by invitation, Tattersall's Club Landscape $25,000 Art award opened last week at Brisbane's Tattersall's Club. The winner is well known Queensland artist Ian Smith. I have known Ian for many, many years and it's exciting to see someone you know win such a great award. Of course I would have liked to have won! But, I have been in this game [ie: art world] for a long time, and I count my blessings for having been invited to exhibit in such a strong exhibition.

You can see all the paintings in the award exhibiton online HERE 

If you live in, or close to, Brisbane you can see the paintings at their public exhibition, from Monday 10 September until Friday 21 September 7am- 6 pm at Waterfront Place, 1 Eagle St in Brisbane's CBD.

My entry Cosmic Dust is above. On the opening night, and at a 'meet and greet the artists' jazz night on Friday, I chatted to many people about Cosmic Dust. I always love a chance to chat!

Please click HERE to read the post I wrote just after I finished Cosmic Dust

Accompanying each painting in the Tattersall's exhibition is an artist's statement. This is mine below:

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

Cosmic Dust simultaneously suggests the multiple perspectives and horizons, in the close and far distances, existing between the nano and vast. This painting, seemingly a landscape of Earth in Space, untethers landscape from Earth-bound perspectives...suggesting that maybe a sub-atomic particle or even a whole Universe can provide new perspectives of and for landscape.

In our globalised world, in which we live locally, new perspectives [seen simultaneously?] may hold clues to how to sustain life on Earth, for indeed humankind has no other landscape/place to call ‘home’.

The circle of two trees, created with my much loved age-old transcultural/religious tree-of-life symbol, represents life as it viscerally branches out and roots itself into the landscape of all existence. The trees are encircled by white light, representing everything from Earth's atmosphere, to reflected sunlight, to divine light …even the flash of light at the Big Bang…an afterglow? 

The title Cosmic Dust suggests that subatomic, atomic, human, planetary and universal entities are the dust created by the Big Bang. Thus, the painting can be seen variously as many landscapes; perhaps Earth or the Universe in Space, maybe a drop of water or perhaps a spec of dust floating across a dusky country Queensland sky?

UNTETHERING LANDSCAPE: REVOLUTIONARY?

In my chats with people, at the Tattersall's exhibition, the idea of untethering landscape from Earth-bound perspectives seemed to strike a chord. Why? I suspect it holds the possibility of discovery and the potential for new ways of doing things....and I don't mean only new ways of painting...but rather that taking different perspectives may just reveal answers to questions of sustainability [across the ambit of human pursuits] and maybe...just maybe....provoke better questions that then unfold into new discoveries.

It seemed almost revolutionary, at a landscape exhibition, to suggest untethering landscape from Earth! But, if everything in the universe, from the quantum to the cosmic [with humans placed somwhere in the matrix], is the 'dust' created by the Big Bang, then 'landscape' lives within us...we are the landscape.

Please read my post TO GROK LANDSCAPE  for more on the idea that we are not separate from the landscape...and I don't mean just the Earth-bound one!

UPDATE

In my last post I mentioned I had been to the Nindooinbah Woolshed exhibition opening..opened by well known Brisbane Art Dealer, Bruce Heiser.

Here are a couple of photos from the evening:

Above: Here's me with my very talented artist [printmaker] friend Wayne Singleton. You can see one of his artworks on the right. It is a handcoloured relief block print. My painting Sap of Life is behind us.

Please check out Wayne's WEBSITE  to see more of his wonderful work.

Above: Here's me again with one of the fantastic curators of the Nindooinbah exhibition, Susan Short. My paintings Halo [on left] and Finding The Light [on right] are behind us.

Above: And, here is a photo of the Nindooinbah woolshed...an example of a quintessentially Australian building.


Until next time!
Cheers,
Kathryn
www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

LAST WITNESS and QUIVER

                                                     Last Witness Oil on linen 50 x 50 cm




Last Witness

The red tree, representing the age-old transcultural/religious tree-of- life symbol, stands as the last witness to humankind’s prosaic mutation of the alchemic myth of transformation. At its most profound the myth can be understood as a transformation into transcendence. Humankind’s frantic desire to transform nature’s gifts into commodities, where the most significant value is economic, shatters the alchemic myth’s potential to reveal, and revel in, the many dimensions of the meaning of ‘value’.

In ‘Last Witness’ the top part of the painting is a deliberately ambiguous ‘landscape’. Small brush strokes create a tapestry of colour which could be interpreted as sky, rain, a forest, land and water contours, and more. Towards the bottom half of the painting, these elements are transformed into another ambiguous ‘landscape’ created with small $ signs. When viewed from a distance these $ signs are not discernible, yet they become obvious when viewed up close. I am asking the question ‘Have we noticed?’

There is hope though. The red tree, the last witness to plundering in the name of monetary value and progress, is surrounded by small white dots giving a halo-like, portal-like, seemingly illuminative presence. The tree stands as witness, but also as guide and illuminator to other alternatives. The tree, as the tree-of-life, represents the vigour of life with its vascular like branches and its pulsating red. It beckons us to ask better questions. It provokes us into conversations where new perspectives are illuminated. It reminds us of the beauty we lose if one dimensional interpretations of value erode the fulsome capacities of transformation.

QUIVER 
2012

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

All A-QUIVER

Seeking The Light Oil on linen 36 x 36 cm

The car is loaded, documents are prepared, screw driver, blu tac and other assorted bits and pieces are ready. QUIVER is ready to be hung. I am hanging the show tomorrow [Monday], and the doors open to the public on Tuesday.

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

QUIVER is an exhibition of new paintings inspired by concepts of Mother Nature. Using the age-old transcultural/religious tree-of-life symbol, I explore distance from the nano to the multiversal. In this distance where perspective, both literal and metaphoric, takes on multi layered dimensions, the quiver …tremble….vibration…of all life reminds us of the shared rhythmic pulse across time and space. 

In an age where environmental and sustainability issues battle with increasing energy needs, water viability and food production, re-examination of Mother Nature’s story, myth and symbolism may provide new perspectives which are not only Earth bound, but also directed to and from the cosmic world, at the same time as potentially penetrating quantum secrets.

In many of these new paintings I combine a figure of a woman, with the tree-of-life. The woman seems to dance across indeterminate spaces that seem both vast and intimate. Her limbs erupt with trees that seem to connect her to these spaces in ways that resonate viscerally. This connection suspends time as Mother Nature embodies the first impulse of life as well as its present and future continuance.

In other paintings I have combined the tree-of-life with other elements to 'ask' questions about how we 'value' our land, how we might discover new perspectives and how we might re-imagine our place within modern cosmology. How do we partner with Mother Nature to understand the spectrum of life from the quantum to the cosmic?

QUIVER

Graydon Gallery,

29 merthyr Rd, New Farm, Brisbane, Australia

17 - 29 April

OPEN DAILY 10 am - 6 pm or by appointment

ANZAC DAY 12 noon - 6 pm

Please check out Carolyn McDowall's article in The Culture Concept.

Please check out a recent QUIVER post and my online gallery on my WEBSITE

Copies of my recently published book FOR EVERYONE: Words and Paintings will be available at QUIVER

....................................................................................................................

SEEKING THE LIGHT

Oil on linen 36 x 36 cm

In this new painting [above] the female figure, representing Mother Nature, seems to attract light. He arms and feet erupt with vascular-like trees connecting her to whatever energy it is that propels life.  

This painting is one of three 36 x 36 cm paintings in QUIVER. The other two paintings are below.

 Out There Somewhere Oil on linen 36 x 36

The Beginning Oil on linen 36 x 36 cm

I will upload photos of the show when it is hung!

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com