MEMORY LANE

I am still working on a painting, hours per day...and it is progressing. I wrote about it in a recent post and also placed an image of a detail. However, the cold damp weather, we are having here in Brisbane, means the paint is not drying as quickly as I'd like. So I can't over paint where I want to.

In the meantime I thought I'd take a journey down memory lane...snippets from my art past! So, no paintings, but just newsy type photos.

MEETING THE QUEEN
The photograph above is of me meeting Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 11 at Queensland's Government House in early 1977. I won the senior section a state wide art competition for young people. And, the prize was to meet the Queen! Unfortunately, this was before the days of digital cameras and 1000s of photos, so I only have this one of me meeting the Queen...but her back it to the viewer. My painting is the one on the top left. The Queen had chosen the theme for the competition, which was 'The Family'.

The head mistress at my boarding school was a bit upset that I did not wear the school uniform. However, I entered the competition on my own during the Christmas school holidays, and I thought the school really should not have a say in what I wore. So sweet teenager that I was, I insisted on wearing bright red, my very frizzy long hair out and high heeled sandals. The latter elevated me to well over 180 cm tall [I am already and was already height endowed!]. So, I towered over the Queen and felt quite ludicrous...but also very excited. Out of sight are about 80 photographers and the winners' parents, who also got to meet the Queen

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

The photo above is me again, not meeting a famous person, but eyeballing a Monet Waterlilly painting. This was taken in 1981 when I worked at the National Gallery in Canberra.

LONDON 2002

The three photos above are from my solo show Distance in London in 2002. This was a very exciting exhibition with the Deputy Australian High Commissioner opening the show for me. The gallery was packed with people I knew, my friends knew, gallery list, people I met in the street!

DUBAI 2004

Australian Ambassador His Excellency Noel Campbell and his wife with me at my opening in Dubai 2004

Making my speech at the opeing in Dubai 2004.

The three photos above are from my solo exhibition in Dubai in 2004. I loved being in Dubai and I have made a number of subsequent visits. The Australian Ambassador His Excellency Noel Campbell opened the exhibition for me. This was a wonderful gesture.

ABU DHABI 2005

                                   

The three images above are from my solo show at the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation in 2005. I was very pleased to have the then Queensland Minister for Education and The Arts, Hon. Rod Welford to open the exhibition. The Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation was wonderful providing me with an excellent opening event...even a ribbon to be cut. My daughter was given the task of holding the cushion which the scissors were placed upon.

My Abu Dhabi exhibition, and the whole experience of talking with people from all over the region, has profoundly influenced my work since then. My tree-of-life paintings, which I exhibited in the show, were the catalysts for some of the most inspiring conversations I have ever had. Regular readers of this BLOG will already know this and how grateful I am to have had the experience...hopefully I will again!

So, just a few snippets from the past. Not too many deep and meaningfuls on this post...plenty of them previously!

Cheers,

Kathryn

LISTENING TO THE STILLNESS

                                         Listening To The Stillness Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm unframed

I have previously, in recent posts, written about my interest in the concept of the vortex and the stillness I imagine to be found in the centre or core of the vortex. In the stillness I imagine a quietness which allows you to listen to yourself, your thoughts and reflections, your heartbeat and breath. The imploring hysteria held within the twirling and whirling of the outer vortex fades away to leave a place where listening can be really experienced...a listening to life from within yourself, and a listening to the space and energy of the Universe. I imagine the vortex core to be a space of unfathomable immensity and also intimacy. This paradox is completely imaginable if notions of lines of sight and traditional perspective are abandoned.

I have written before about my thoughts on perspective and the need for us in the 21st century, where we live locally in a globalised world, to develop skills in 'seeing' multiple perspectives simultaneously. Indeed, another word may need to be created to describe the collapse of perspective.

But back to the vortex core. The painting above, and those in other recent posts, are my visual explorations of being inside the vortex. I imagine an attraction to, and an emmanation from, the vortex representing a natural and consistent flow of life and love. The hysteric twirling and whirling of the outer vortex strips life and love to the point where they are confused with such human derailments as jealousy, materialism, neediness, martyrdon etc.

The image above is a close up of an oil painting I am currently working on. It is my first oil painting focusing on my vortex ideas. As you can see my much loved tree-of-life has a dominant part to play in the visual story. [regular readers of this blog will not be surprised!] As in my recent works on paper, the tree-of-life/knowledge is connected to the inner core of the vortex like a sustaining vascular system, suggesting that once stillness is listened to, our lives expand beyond the reaches of the hysteric turmoil existing in the noisy outer world.

ON ANOTHER MATTER
Please have a look at this website 'coal4breakfast'. It has been set up by a group of farmers who live near or along a road called Haystack Rd, on the Darling Downs west of Dalby, Queensland, Australia. I grew up on my parent's farm not far away from this place. The soils surrounding Dalby are some of the most fertile soils in the southern hemisphere, thus representing major food producing capacity. However, there are minerals under the ground, mainly coal. Mining is threatening the sustainability of the fertile food producing soils of the area. There is no gurantee that lands can be rejuvenated and restored. For me, the risk is too high, because it is a risk that will influence future generations. These soils can produce food for 1000s of years, yet a mine's life is vastly shorter. http://www.coal4breakfast.com.au/page10.htm

Cheers,
Kathryn

ADDICTED TO SURPRISE?

                                                   Galaxial Landscape Oil on linen 90 x 200 cm

It is over a week since I last posted. The time has flown. But, I have finished my large 'galaxial' painting I wrote about in a recent post. And, there it is above. It's a 90 x 200 cm painting, so is rather long and large.

I wanted to create a painting that surprises...but surprises in a way which triggers a wonderment and a pondering. There are a few types of surprise and the one we humans seem most addicted to, is shocked surprise. What I  mean by 'shocked surprise' is a, 'Oh my goodness, how could that happen', kind of surprise. You know... when revelations of debauchery, floundering, misuse of public funds, romantic affairs, drunken footballer behaviour and so on and on and on, are made. We read or hear about these sorts of events, we tutt tutt or sympathise or criticise, and then forget about it until we are induced by media headlines to react the same way to the next shocking revelation. The constant cascade of shocking news seems to desensitise reactions causing feelings of helplessness. In a way, feeling shocked is all we think we can give.

So, getting back to the kind of surprise I want to induce...wonderment kind of surprise...the kind that actually makes your brain feel like its be stimulated because synapses and dendrites get a workout...the kind that makes your heart sing...the kind that opens gates inside your imagination...the kind that makes you dream. The kind that can actually...possibly....stimulate creative solutions to some of the world's problems.

My galaxial painting is an elliptical galaxy shaped long tree! The tree starts in the middle and twists its way around. Yes, regular readers of my blog will recognise the tree as my transcultural/religious tree-of-life  and/or tree-of-knowledge. I have been reading about galaxies recently and an image of a tree-of-life galaxy jumped into my imagination as I was reading. As it jumped into my imagination I felt like perspective disappeared into the seemingly liquid distances of space. Galaxies and their formations remind us that life/existence was compelled to form within nanoseconds of what is called the Big Bang. We are part of an ongoing process of life unfolding. We and our evolution are linked to the compulsion for life which errupted in those first nanoseconds. Now that's amazing, surprising, exciting and wonderful.

This painting is also linked to my interest in the distances of the micro and macro, the intimate and vast, the nano and the universal, the global and local. By using a commonly understood motif such as the tree I wanted to bring the universal into the grasp of some kind of human scale, to collapse distance and to remind that Earth is our home [at the moment and for the foreseeable future!] so we must honour, respect and love it.

I wonder what it would be like if we were addicted to wonder?
Cheers,
Kathryn

STILLNESS

                                                                 Stillness Within Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm

Have you ever tried to find stillness? When I say 'stillness' I mean that place of peace and silence where the world stops spinning. I have tried many types of meditation, but I find it very difficult to make up my mind about where my favourite quiet place is. So, when a meditation facilitator suggests that one goes, in one's mind, to a favourite place I get quite agitated because I cannot choose. Then if I have actually chosen my spot before the meditation time is up, I then try to work out what the weather might be like, where exactly am I positioned and so on. Normally I start in a certain place ,but end up somewhere else, with many intervening 'happenings' occurring along the way. I suppose one could put it down to having an imagination!

But, recently I discovered a way to experience the stillness. I wrote about this briefly in a recent previous post 'Artifice of Fantasy' http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2010/06/artiface-of-fantasy.html I imagine I am inside a vortex! Well, yes...the vortex is a metaphor for the hurly burly of life. But, I find it very easy to imagine myself inside a vortex and when I do, I immediately feel stillness. The inside is the core, where I imagine no movement and silence, but an immense energy. This energy is not a frantic, electricified type of energy, but rather an energy of source, of a beginning and an end... and thus without time.

I was thinking about silence recently for a few reasons.
1.  I enjoy silence and I wonder why people want noise and sound all the time. When I think there is silence I realise that  it is never really silent, because through the quiet of seeming silence, sounds of nature can be heard eg: rustle of a lizard in the grass, a small bird's song and so on.
2.  A friend of mine mentioned the French philospoher Luce Iragary's interest in silence. I have previously read some of Iragary's work, but it was some time ago. I remember being drawn to it at the time. So, I have done some googling and read a little more and will endevour to buy one, two or more of her publications. Her interest in silence as a place of listening is intriguing and actually deceptively quite mutlifaceted in terms of knowing oneself... and the other ...and others.
3. I have another friend, Anna Schaumkel who runs listening circles through the business she runs with her partner http://www.beattitude.com.au/index.php I have attended a listening circle and it is quite a powerful experience. People sit in a circle and as each person talks the others listen without making commment. There is a profound experience of being heard.
4. As I have imagined being inside the vortex, in this place of stillness, I have 'heard' my own life force, I have 'heard' myself in the silence.

I know that many people, both men and women, feel unheard and have the attendant core belief of being unlovable. However, the silencing of women across history and cultures is profoundly sad, for men and women. This silencing can be directly by men, or by women to and of themselves based on fears revolving around expectations of societies and families which are largely based on patriachal dynamics. As the mother of daughters I see them voicing their opinions in ways that, at the same ages, I would never have been game to. As a single mother for the last ten years I have watched my daughters not be silenced by me and the residues of my learned experiences of expectation. My exhaustion has meant I could not keep up the facade of really caring about expectations, which deep down I resented anyway! My daughters' expectations are to be heard and not just be me, but by their father, friends, teachers and so on! In fact, I have learnt a lot from my daughters!

STILLNESS WITHIN  Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm
This painting depicts the tree of life twirling around the vascular red vortex which is linked at both the top and bottom to 'veins' which extend beyond the painting. An upright and an inverted tree-of -life, both rooted to the 'veins', suggest that time and space have ceased being measurable, as the woman inside the vortex experiences a stillness and quiet, where she hears her own life force through her breath and pulse, and knows who she really is.

PRESENCE IN MALENY
My small exhibition 'Presence' has been extended by one week until 22 June. So, 'Presence' can still be seen at Maleny's Upfront Club 31 Maple St, Maleny http://www.upfrontclub.org/

Kathryn

GALAXIAL

Detail of new painting with working title 'Galaxial Landscape' 90 x 200 cm Oil on linen

The above image is a detail of the painting I am currently working on. In my last post I briefly discussed a new work on paper called 'From The Stillness' where I have placed a figure inside a vortex. The painting above continues my interest in spirals, vortexs, helixes etc. I have used these shapes of phenomena in the past, but not with same intensity as I feel at the moment. I am reading another Martin Rees book [co-authored with Mitchell Begelman] called Gravity's Fatal Attraction: Black Holes In The Universe. Here's a link to a previous post where I write about Martin Rees's book Our Final Century http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2010/04/idea-sketches.html 

Gravity's Fatal Attraction: Black Holes In The Universe is a more technical book than Our Final Century, but it is equally as fascinating. It was while I was reading the chapter 'Galaxies and Their Nuclei' that my idea for a 'galaxy' formed from my tree-of-life sprung to mind. The image of an elliptical coil of multicoloured branches set against an endless sky-space instantly excited me. The notion of life beyond our human experience, yet tantalisingly possible, got me thinking about how to represent it, thus the tree-of-life motif. I also wanted to clearly place humanity within the tantalisation, thus the tree-of-life motif. Our galaxy is one of an endless number in the Universal schema and our Earth is but just a small dot, indiscernible from far distances. Regular readers will now see where another part of my interest lies. And, that is in perspective...or possibly the loss or implosion of perspective as a traditional line of sight or point of view.

I have postulated before that in a globalised world in which we live locally, we need to be able to 'see' more than one perspective at a time. And, I am talking metaphorically here. 'Seeing' simultaneous perspectives is potentially a new experience which needs a new word to describe it. A word which departs from traditional notions of line of sight. A word which untethers our imaginations in order to help us wonder about the feeling and experience of being able to 'see' and 'feel' multiple points of view simultaneously. A word which assists us in uncovering other dimensions. Are we missing those dimensions because our sense of perspective is tethered by line of sight, which always has blindspots?

I still have a lot do do with my new large painting... it is 90 x 200 cm. I had to make sure the coiled or spiralled tree-of-life appeared to be almost 3 dimensional on the flat long canvas. Now that took some time to work out , but I am happy. I wanted the tree to sing with colour and so far it is showing signs of singing!  I wanted it to sing because, to me, that means there is an electricity or energy portrayed. It is important to me that in this painting a cosmic type of energy is evident and felt by the viewer. When the painting is finished I hope that the viewer feels simultaneously drawn into the spiral, and propelled to vast distances [at least in their imaginations!] Above is a small sketch I did late on the night when I was reading about galaxies.

So, I will return to my studio now. And, until next time, cheers,
Kathryn

ARTIFICE OF FANTASY

From The Stillness Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm

I am back in the studio properly now, after my break following FRISSON. The house smells of turps. I smell of turps. I call it my 'eau de turps' perfume. I spent this morning preparing the first layer of colour on 5 canvases. Lots of paint, turps and linseed oil! I also sat and stared at a 90 x 200 cm canvas which already has the background completed. I have so many ideas, I have to sift through each imagined image to 'test' to 'see' if it suits the long horizontal format, plus if I feel myself getting really excited about it. I've sketched and made notes to myself over the last 6 or so weeks and today I have been reading through my various art diaries to get a 'feel' for how I am going to proceed.

In the middle of all this activity I finished a work on paper [above] which I had started last week when I tentatively ventured into my room where I create my works on paper. I have to wait for the newly prepared canvases to dry, or partially dry, before I can splash some more paint around. Thus, finishing this work on paper helped me process some of my thoughts. I certainly don't want to lose my thoughts!!!

The painting above is called 'From The Stillness'. It depicts my imagined self inside a vortex. No, I am not unrelentingly caught up in a dizzying twirling and swirling, but rather, I am in the core of the vortex where I imagine stillness, yet unfathomable positive energy and unconditional love to exist. It is in the stillness that I imagine the presence of the divine, which I have symbolised with a white light that cascades over my body. This 'light' erupts from the vortex core into life, which is represented by my much loved transcultural-religious tree-of-life.

I have more images of vortex cores and erupting white light inside my head. Plus, I have images inside my head of elliptical galaxies, figures transforming into trees and much, much more. As each image appears in my imagination I know that they come from processes buried deep in my psyche and in time, which find their catalysts in wonder.

Now to some thoughts which are linked to all that I have already written above, but are broader in their perspective. Imagination is the superconductor of knowledge. Without imagination and wonder where would we be? Science, mathematics, philosophy...discovery of any kind is aided and driven by imagination and wonder. Yet, I sometimes think that people confuse imagination with fantasy. For me, the latter is more about wishful thinking and is prone to unhealthy distortion, pretense and superficiality. Oh, it can be fun, but it can also be dangerous as the imploded 'fantasy' of subprime loans and other crumbling edifices of the GFC have revealed. And, what about the 'fantasy' worlds created by leaders such as Mugabe, Hitler and others of their ilk?

I am reminded of J.K. Rowling's Commencement Address, “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination,” at the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association
http://harvardmagazine.com/commencement/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-imagination
She says of imagination, Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared. She goes on to say,  I think the wilfully unimaginative see more monsters. They are often more afraid.

Maybe the 'wilfully unimaginative' are those prone to the artiface of fantasy? This makes one think about the role post-modernism has played [literally played!] in the artifice which the GFC has revealed and continues to reveal. I wrote a post in November 2008 about postmodenism and the implosion of financial markets and economies http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2008/11/after-implosion.html

All this makes one ponder upon art. It seems to me that fantasy may have crept into the visual lexicon, but at what cost? Fantasy can be arresting [momentarily], spectacular [as in being a spectacle], clever but not necessarily intelligent, seductive but not sensual, slapstick but not humourous, didactic [ie: not meaningful], interesting but not memorable...and so on. How can we tell when art is playing with fantasy or revelling in the superconducting depths of imagination and wonder?

J.K Rowling's statement about imagination being the vehicle by which we can empathise with others is pivotally important. It is the capacity to put oneself in another's shoes, bypassing gratuitous sympathy to plummet into the intimacy of shared compassion. It is the capacity to change perspective or even  to 'see' multiple perspectives simultaneously. Regular readers of this BLOG know of my intense interest in art's potential catalytic agency to stimulate new dance steps across the multiple perspectives which are revealed as we live locally in an increasingly globalised world. Compassion is paramount.

I highly recommend J.K. Rowlings speech which you can either read or watch @
http://harvardmagazine.com/commencement/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-imagination

Below is a picture of my 'studio' [garage] where I paint my large oil on linen paintings. You can see the first layer of colour on the 5 of the canvases I prepared this morning.

Cheers,
Kathryn

SHIFT

Royalties Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2010

June 1 is the date I said I would be back into my studio, after taking some time to gather myself and my thoughts following my exhibition FRISSON in March. But, I have been back into my studio a little bit lately to start some works on paper dealing with my ongoing interest in water. I have previously written quite a lot about this interest, but there is just so much to think about, especially when placed against a backdrop of current economic conditions, both domestic and international.

I am particularly thinking about the issues surrounding coal seam gas extraction in the Surat Basin where owners and operators of prime grazing and farming lands are currently negotiating with the mining companies which have prospecting rights. The issues of contaminated water, reduced underground aquifer levels, potential reduced water for grazing and farming needs, potential reduced land available for grazing and farming production [thus food!], potential land degradation and increased salinity levels, increased noise and dust, infrastructure capacity stress eg: roads, schools, increased traffic [particularly heavy vehicles] etc way heavily. Social issues such as rural camaraderie may be affected by the vagaries of deal making, resultant inuendo and secrecy. The social fabric of small rural communities means that everyone talks about eveyone else and knows, at least to some extent, what others are doing. I know! I have lived in small rural communities for nearly 40 years, having been born into a farming family outside Dalby, right in the middle of some of the richest and deepest top soil in the southern hemisphere. I then spent 18 years living in Goondiwindi, on the border of Queensland and New South Wales, with a population of around 5,000 people in the town and another 5,000 people in the surrounding districts.

Blue Gold Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2009

http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/02/water.html

Dalby is smack bang in the middle of the coal seam gas bonanza. This is another reason why I am particularly interested in the huge shift in the focus of rural survival, the economic and the social outcomes. The quickened heart beat of change and worry is sensed when you place the local issues of the Surat Basin against the Australian Federal Government's announcement to impose a rent tax on the mining industry, the ferocious opposition to the rent tax from mining and affiliated companies plus the Federal Opposition and the immediate share price falls of mining and affiliated companies [which affects amongst other things, the retirement superannuation funds of ordinary Australians]. On the broader scale the macro economic conditions of our world are tortuously exacerbated by natural and manmade disasters, immanent battle to arms and the ongoing licking of wounds inflicted by the GFC.

Gee, we live in fantastic times! Regular readers might think I am being uncharacteristically negative and sombre. I don't see the world through rose tinted glasses or bury my head in the sand, but I am interested in trying to see, from both local and global perspectives, where emergent patterns of change are occurring. The plethora of disaster being experienced in the world, from financial and economic collapses to hurricanes and earth quakes, political tensions with fanatical nations to unforgiveable oil spills do remind us of reality. Financial undertakings cannot be about fantasy, increased natural disasters remind us to look after our planet, fanatical individual, groups and nations live and think differently and cannot be wished away via traditional logical means, and massive manmade disasters remind us that risk has a capital R.I.S.K and must be dealt with honestly and without bravado.

Truth Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2009

http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/06/truth.html

There was a flurry of interest last week about the announcement, by Craig Venter and his team, of the creation of synthetic life. Here's a link to the TED talk  http://www.ted.com/talks/craig_venter_unveils_synthetic_life.html  However, this week I have not read much about this amazing development. But, this often happens with scientific discoveries. Why? I am not sure, but maybe the media decides another story is more saleable. In this case the iPad certainly must be a far more saleable story that the creation of synthetic life, because there's been plenty in the general media about the iPad.

But, back to being serious...the creation of synthetic life does pose risk [RISK] because, for example, in the hands of a mad person, who understood the scientific process, the world could be taken over by cell sized replicating synthetic warriors that could, for instance, eat us from the inside out, take over our minds and so on [I will let you imagine!]. However, on the upside synthetic cell sized replicating life could be developed to 'eat up' oil spills. Craig Venter mentions a number of positive uses and applications for synthetic life in the TED talk. The viewer gets the impression he only touches the surface of what is possible. He also mentions risk and the steps taken to avoid it...very gratifying and reassuring.

Obviously it is early days, but just imagine if sythetic life could replace the need for coal seam gas! Then the Surat Basin would be returned to the farmers, albeit 'pock marked'. Imagine if it could replace other energy sources! Rent taxes would be superfluous. Just imagine................................................

The out of the blue, left field development which appears within the complexity of life, and thus shifts our expectations is where excitement and potential lie.

ROYALTIES  Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm [Above]
The yellow foreground of this ambiguous landscape is created with $ signs. Regular readers of my BLOG know I have used $ before. I have also used them in the second painting above Blue Gold ...'blue gold' being water. http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/02/water.html  The smallness of the $ signs means that the viewer initially does not really notice them, but upon a closer examination they do. I have watched people as they move closer to my $ paintings. The realisation shows on their faces as they move even closer to the image and then move back again to get a broader perspective. Regular readers know that this action of moving close and then moving back to a distance is important to me for a couple of reasons. One, it replicates the artist's action of painting up close and then moving back to view from a distance, to make decisions based on a range of concerns from aesthetic to meaning. Two, this action of moving back and forth is like a dance, the kind of dance I 'see' as necessary in a global world in which we live locally. In Royalties the small circles in the 'sky' are dotted with the same $ yellow. These circles are like portals which seem to offer alternative visons for how we place 'value' on the offerings of our Earth.  Questions I ask are: in the flurry of activity what are we noticing?  What and where are our blindspots? Is it possible to see the 'big picture' at the same time as seeing the details? The last question is one I try to grapple with in my paintings...I like to think that people experience a sense of what it is like to see the macro at the same time as the micro, thus changing ideas of perspective and perhaps shedding light to reveal our blindspots.

Cheers, Kathryn

SEEING AROUND CORNERS

Together Gouache on paper 30 x 21 cm [SOLD]

'Presence' opened on Thursday night last week in Maleny at the buzzing Upfront Club. The club is run by the Maple Street Co-operative, which also runs a great shop selling all sorts of good things for you. Maleny is a world leader in co-operative kinds of enterprises. http://www.upfrontclub.org/  http://www.maplestreetco-op.com/

The opening was lots of fun, with quite a number of people there to see my paintings and hear my short speech, which was received with enthusiasm! Give me a microphone and words tumble out of my mouth! It is very exciting when you can connect people to like minded others...and this happened in a beautiful way too. Photos are on there way and once they get to me I will upload onto the BLOG and tell you more.

After my exhibition 'Frisson' in March I decided to take a little rest from painting, because quite frankly I was exhausted. But, no rest from thinking, reading and so on. My date to re-enter my studio enforce is June 1. I am getting itchy fingers and will admit to dabbling with some works on paper. But, I have 9 new linen stretchers of varying sizes sitting in my garage/studio and they are beckoning! As I have written and said before, the blank canvas is never really blank, because an artist's mind's eye creates many images upon the blankness before deciding to take hold of the brush to make that first visible mark. The preceeding imagined images still exist within that first mark and those that follow though.

So, where are my thoughts for my new paintings taking me? Well... they traverse the immensity and intimacy of both the nano and the universal. I am 'seeing' things that in one instance could be miniscule, but in another instance further thought opens the initially perceived dimension to something so immense it is almost without size. My much loved transcultural/religious tree-of-life is still a central guiding motif because at every turn of thought I 'see' it as providing the clue to the archetype of everything!

Books such as "The Brain That Changes Itself' by Dr. Norman Doidge and 'Our Final Century' by Prof. Martin Rees have given me SO much to ponder. The immensity of the unknown is clearly negotiated with both intellect and imagination. In fact, without imagination and creativity one wonders where knowledge would be?

Imagination as well as intellect helps us to search for and find the links and similarities between people. On the universal scale, something all humankind [past, present and future] share is our planet Earth. And, whilst it might seem like it is the centre of the Universe, it is not, and whatever Earth's future is, it is our's too. The new scientific breakthrough where artificially created DNA has been placed within an emptied cell, which has then replicated itself, is both amazing and horrifying. Rees discusses the upside and downside potential of this kind of breakthrough in his book, even though in the early 2000s this kind of breakthrough was only imagined. He also spends some time looking at risk [any kind of risk to our planet and humanity] and it is in this discussion that imagination and extrapolation are significant. However, what is obvious is that risk is something which all of humanity must acknowledge as shared. As Rees also points out we need to think not of just our present selves, but also the potential risk to future generations over time.

Imagination often presents us with a scenario, an image, a thought which for some time satisfies us, but sometimes a new piece of information, will propel the initial imagined scenario, image or thought into further dimensions. Those imagined things can unfold to reveal synchronicities, prophetic vibes and unconsious 'knowings' that were not acknowledged or 'seen' in the intitial imaginings. When this happens it feels like imagination is an energy force, that can 'see' around corners.

MALENY and PRESENCE

Seeping Into The Intimate Vastness Oil on linen 80 x 120 cm $4000 * http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/06/seeping-into-intimate-vastness.html

Here's a suggestion! If you are from around Brisbane or the Sunshine Coast  Take a Leisurely drive to Maleny, brouse around the shops, have lunch at the Upfront Club...and see my paintings!!! Or better still stay in the Monteville/Maleny area for the weekend, then you could take in a live music gig at the Upfront Club too.
Cheers,
Kathryn
http://www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com/

* The price is for the exhibition 'Presence' which ends 15 June. This is the current market price and will be maintained or increased after 15th June.

NOTIONS OF PERSPECTIVE

Into My Galaxy Oil on linen 85 x 147 cm

I hung my exhibition 'Presence' at the Upfront Club in Maleny yesterday. For my BLOG visitors from overseas, Maleny is a picturesque town in the hinterland hills behind Queensland's famous Sunshine Coast. It takes about 1 3/4 hours to drive north from Brisbane. The town has an eclectic population of young and old, artists, musicians, retired academics, retired all sorts of people [journalists, merchant bankers, farmers], hillchangers from Sydney and Melbourne, Feng Shui experts, world leaders in co-operatives and so on.

The show looks great...if I say so myself. And, I certainly received very positive stroking comments from a number of people ...passers by, staff at the Upfront Club, diners. Lots of chatting yesterday in between the unwrapping of paintings and being precariously perched on the top rung of a ladder.

Here's a link to a recent  previous post about 'Presence':
http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2010/05/presence.html

DETAILS OF THE EXHIBITION:

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

Forever Connected Oil on linen 120 x 80 cm

The Brush Of Angels' Wings Oil on linen 50 x 92 cm

The three paintings above 'Into My Galaxy', 'Forever Connected' and 'The Brush Of Angels' Wings' are in 'Presence'. With all three paintings I have explored notions of perspective. Regular readers of my BLOG know that literal and metaphoric perspective are of great interest to me. Metaphoric perspective is the greater interest. However, I distort or play with literal perspective to engage the viewer in a felt experience of not being quite sure of their viewing point and thus their 'place' in relationship with the painting. In an increasingly globalised world in which we live locally, I think it is a matter of survival to develop skills of 'seeing' multiple perspectives simultaneously. Yet, traditional notions of perspective compel us to 'see' maybe one to three points of view, but not necessarily simultaneously. Distance also transpires to keep perspective as a line-of-sight kind of experience rather than a sentient multi-dimensional experience, that maybe akin to some kind of absorbtion. With this in mind, I am beginning to think that traditional notins of perspective are limiting and that a new name needs to be created to describe the ability to 'see' mutiple viewpoints simultaneously.

The three paintings above all depict the tree-of-life. As regular readers of my BLOG know this archetypal symbol is my favoured visual vehicle to explore my ideas. The tree-of-life is transcultural and trans-religious and thus needs no or little explanation. From my experience I know its potency is that it resonnates deep within people, at an almost cellular level. Yet, why should this surprise? The tree mirrors our own bodies, our internal life systems as well as those systems that nurture the Earth...and of course the potential is that it provides some kind of mirror to those systems existing beyond Earth, but which in turn keep our planet from disappearing.

'Into My Galaxy' is all about 'out there'. The tree is the source seemingly contained within the moment of fertilisation, set against a universal background which simultaneously suggests endless space and the intimate warm protection of the womb. Yet, the tree could also be interpreted as being inside the energy or fundamental force suggested by String Theory. Viewed up close this painting revelas that all the small markings which create the colourful background are little squigggles or 'strings' replicating the larger shape in which the tree is contained.

Regular readers of my BLOG know that I am very interested in how people view my paintings. The movement back and forth to see my work at close and far distance is important to me. Firstly it replicates how I have created a painting, as I paint up close and move back to a distance to examine and analyse what I have done. Secondly, this movement of both the artist and the viewer is maybe an exemplar for how we need to view our increasingly globalised world ie: to understand and 'see' the macro as well as the micro.

I have written about 'The Brush Of Angels' Wings' and 'Forever Connected' previously. Here are the links:
http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/05/angels-wings.html
http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/05/forever-connected.html


Cheers,
Kathryn

POTENCY

Disappearing Perspective Oil on linen 30 x 30 cm

During the last week I spent 2 days in Sydney visiting the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes' exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW, plus also seeing some of the first days of the Sydney Biennale at the Museum of Contemporary Art [MCA], Cockatoo Island and the Botanic Gardens. I did not get to see the Biennale exhibits at the other venues...my feet had already diengaged from my legs by the last remaining hours of my stay in Sydney. It is exhausting looking at art!

http://www.thearchibaldprize.com.au/

http://www.biennaleofsydney.com.au/

OBSERVATIONS 

I will admit to not getting much joy from the Archibald Prize exhibition. The fact that the popularity of the exhibition brings multitudes of people, including school groups, to the gallery means that the viewer is forced to either view the paintings at close proximity and/or with constant obstruction. I felt many of the paintings just did not work when viewed up close, yet a few of them did work when I was able to get a longer distance view. But, for me at least, a good painting does need to 'say' something at both close and far distance.    

The Wynne Prize exhibition brought me more joy. The painting I reacted to with an immediate sense of  being in the portrayed environment was John R Walker's Plum Tree Backyard.  This painting captured the sense of warmness and light of a late Spring, early Summer Australian backyard. I could feel and smell the heat and hear the insects, yet this painting did not rely on any kind of alientating realism which seems to be the current visual mantra.

The Sulman Prize exhibition was quite a mixture to say the least. The work I responded to with a sense of wonder was Paul Sellwood's Sacred Play. This work was made from sheet metal with some kind of surface treatment. When I first glimpsed it out of the corner of my eye I thought it was a free standing 3d sculpure, but in fact, it was a flat wall piece which gave the impression of bulky monumantality. Even in the crowded space of the gallery Sellwood's artwork compelled a stillness, which evoked a sense of the sacred.

The Colour Of Knowledge Oil on linen 62 x 82 cm

The theme for the 2010 Sydney Biennale is The Beauty of Distance: Songs of Survival in a Precarious Age. There were a number of artworks which took and held my attention at the MCA. These included NZ artist Shane Cotton's three large paintings. I was particularly drawn into 'The Hanging Sky' which enticed  my eyes to dance across and into the image which included depictions of Maori heads, birds and leaves set against a gloriously painted dramatic dark sky. Whilst Cotton clearly makes commentary on issues around Maori history, the actual painting involved the viewer in an almost physical experience of magnitude and intimacy...which I would say dealt with concepts of distance on more than one level.

Hanging beside the Cotton paintings were paintings by South African artist Penny Siopis. They grabbed my attention when I entered the large gallery they were hanging in. In fact, I had a battle within myself as to whether I'd look at the Cotton paintings first or to look at the paintings beside them. I immediately recognised Cotton's work as I have seen it many times before, but the Siopis paintings were unknown to me. Up close her paintings did not disappoint. She combines paint and glue to create images of vulnerability, which the viewer sees more clearly once a close examination of forms reveal themselves. The images grow in magnitude as the viewer discerns the details. In this way the viewer almost feels complicit in the acts of oppression which are ultimately discovered. There is a fight between admiring the seductive and almost erotic line, shape and colour employed by Siopis and her choice of subject matter.

I just loved the 9 drawings on layers of drafting flim by Hong Kong artist Angela Su. Her drawings looked like anatomical studies of the internal human reproductive system, but the viewer could not be quite sure as she had included botanical shapes, unidentifiable anatomical looking additions etc. The images, I felt, were certainly about life. One of them depicted a tree-of-life with miniature drawings of her larger ones 'hanging' from the branches. I thought Su's work was one of the few that had overcome a dependency on depicting human fraility and suffering in all its guises to 'talk' about survival. Whilst her drawings hinted at the potential for mutation and disease, I felt this was achieved in a way which gave the viewer a choice. So, for me, her drawings were truly about survival, because there seemd to be no reliance on regurgitating, and thus holding onto, despair, disaster, mayhem, debauchery, death, destruction. In a way, she had let all of this go...thus it existed in absentia...surely 'letting go' is true survival...and in fact a true 'distancing'?

American artist, Angela Ellsworth's installation Seer Bonnets: A Continuing Offense consisted of women's bonnets made from pearl tipped corsage pins. The installation was amazing in its initial beauty which immediately draws the viewer to examine the work more closely. Once the viewer realises that the pins' sharp ends are visible inside the bonnets, the idea of beauty seems almost guilt laden. How can one think this array of bonnets is beautiful when the pins evoke sinister commentary on the history of women's submission, abuse, inequality and so on? I really liked and felt the 'distance' in Ellsworth's work.

Braid Oil on board 90 x 60 cm

So, that's just some of the art I saw in Sydney. Obviously there was a lot more, but I've written about the ones I am still thinking about!

PRESENCE

My small exhibition PRESENCE opens on Thursday night 20 May 6-8 pm @ Maleny's Upfront Club, 31 Maple St, Maleny. http://www.upfrontclub.org/

The top two paintings will be in the exhibition. Disappearing Perspective reflects my unfolding thoughts on the potential potency in collapsing traditional notions of perspective ie: points of view. For me, the 21st century needs to be a time where people can develop skills of 'seeing' multiple perspective simultaneously. I believe this is a matter of survival. The ability to 'see' multiple perspectives simultaneously needs a name that differentiates it from 'perspective'. 

The Colour of Knowledge looks at the idea of knowledge being colour which cascaded throught the world when Adam and Eve took from the 'tree-of-knowledge'. I 'see' this as a way to examine the dualities which seemingly exist. I have written about this painting before...here's the link.

http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/12/colour-of-knowledge.html

The third painting is a self portrait. Yep, the back of my head with my long plait, which I identify with more than my face!

Cheers,

Kathryn

YES

                                          Sharing The Spaces Gouache on paper 21 x 30 cm paper size

'Yes' is a pretty positive word. So, I thought I'd write a post about saying 'yes' to art. I have been thinking about my small exhibiton 'Presence' in Maleny opening next week, and it came to me that what makes an artist's heart sing, after the creation of a piece of art, is the word 'yes'.

An artist's heart sings when a gallery says 'yes' they will exhibit the artist's work. The singing continues when someone says 'yes' to buying an artist's work. The heart bounces with excited anticipation when 'yes' is said by competition preselectors that an artist's entry is a finalist. Oh, and the heart dances and sings when a 'yes' is an announcement that the artist's entry has won a competition. An artist's heart sings warmly when someone says something that illustrates they totally 'get' what the artist is trying to achieve. The heart sings joyfully when a curator says 'yes' to including an artist's work in a curated exhibition.

And...then when the artist views their bank accounts to see that their creations are providing funds for further art making and all the other things needed or wanted in life, the air is punched with a resounding song 'Yes, yes, yes!'

Why buy art? Why say that word that makes an artist's heart sing...'YES'? Apart from any investment potential [and that's a whole subject in itself!] when someone purchases a piece of art they are not just aquiring a product...they are buying a piece of the artist and a piece that somehow resonates with them. Thus, they are buying something that is shared even though it may be not be consciously identified. These sharings include,  memories, hopes, visions, curiosities, fetishes, fantasies and I am sure you can think of more. As I have suggested before on this BLOG, maybe the resonation happens at a cellular level in that huge part of our DNA which has not yet been unravelled, but where human race memory may exist. So the connection between the artist as creator and the buyer is one founded in what it means to be human.

I have often had collectors of my paintings say to me that they see somethig new in my work each day. This brings me joy, because it means my work has a continuing life which potentially will continue for a long time or even forever! YES!

Please check out my previous post PRESENCE for the details of my exhibition coming up next week. YES! YES! YES! http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2010/05/presence.html


Cheers,
Kathryn

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/