A space between walls
Hugo Michell Gallery, Adelaide. November 2020.
My practice is informed by ideas of place, and the ways in which experiences and memories shape our perspective of a site. Everyday observations that could be easily overlooked or forgotten are remembered and expressed in paint using colour and abstract gestures. This process of responding to past experiences from the context of my studio environment offers me different ways of connecting to a place when I am physically no longer there. Memories of a place often shift over time, with details fading and colours changing. My practice welcome’s the distortion that occurs in the process of remembering.
A space between walls is a reflection on a little green house in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Home to Vanie and Greg, they welcomed me into their space for several months in 2014. I had planned to return to Yogyakarta this year to create a new body of work, but the pandemic has postponed this visit indefinitely. In lieu of physically being there, I have spent these past months reflecting on my memories of Vanie and Greg’s home.
Each painting in A space between walls relates to a specific memory within this intimate domestic space. A load of laundry hanging in the sun, patched up colours of the interior walls, fruit fallen from over the neighbouring fence. These remembered experiences are translated through layers of colour and considered brushstrokes, building an emotional sense of this place, rather than a purely visual representation of the site. I have extended this process into a series of glazed ceramic objects, using the material properties of the clay to construct forms reminiscent of domestic objects found in Yogyakarta such as tropical fruits and vessels.
Creating the paintings and ceramics in A space between walls has been a meditative process allowing me to consider how small details can lead to strong connections with, and longing for a space, as well as the people housed within.
Install photos by Sam Roberts Photography, courtesy of Hugo Michell Gallery.
A space between rooms, where the sun shone and the clothes hung 2020 oil on linen, 183 x 137cm.
Every morning (Sun bath/Mandi matahari/Dede) 2020 oil on linen, 183 x 137cm.
They fell from the neighbour’s tree (Star Fruit/Belimbing) 2020 glazed ceramic, 28 x 30 x 30cm.
This was their second green home 2020 oil on linen, 125 x 100cm.
I thought they were pretty (“Bridie, why did you buy this?”/“Bridie, kenapa kamu beli ini?”) 2020 oil on linen, 183 x 137cm.
From a neighbour’s over hanging tree, they fell. 2020 oil on linen, 70 x 55cm.
Washing walls 2020 oil on linen, 125 x 100cm.
Some afternoons, I’d bring one home (Young Coconut/Kelapa Muda) 2020 glazed ceramic, 30 x 26 x 26cm.
We shared one over a long conversation (Soursop /Sirsak) 2020 glazed ceramic, 25 x 30 x 25cm.
Their little green house 2020 oil on linen, 70 x 55cm.
Surfaces to eat from 2020 oil on linen, 70 x 55cm.