I am very happy to share the details of my upcoming exhibition Signs, Wanders and Words at BIG BOOM (5 Rutland St Geelong, just up from BOOM GALLERY). This body of work will include paintings in variety of sizes, sculpture, film and some new installations. If you can make the opening from 1-3 pm it would be wonderful to see you all there.
Here is what I wrote about the exhibition;
As the title suggests this exhibition has been inspired by SIGNS, WANDERS & WORDS. I have a long held fascination and curiosity about what it is to be human and examining this through the signs, wanders and words filter has been a way for me to more explore this more fully. It is the philosophy behind the day to day. What is it to be alive? To love, lose, live, die, dream, create, fall down and start again? What has changed over the centuries and what hasn’t? In a way this exhibition feels like a kind of extension of the existing themes in my work and a sort of summary of my practice to date.
My recent artist in residence in Tunisia allowed me time to consider all of this and think about the scope and direction of my creative energies past, present and future.
The signs in the exhibition title is in reference to how we navigate the unknown. This having changed and varied so much over time and being subject to various cultural and individual idiosyncrasies, with the reliance on and influence of religion, science and the esoteric ever interchanging. Yet fundamentally it still underpins much of our individual operating systems, whether that be consciously or not. Mythology, fantasy, literature, superstition, storytelling, colours, symbols, the planets, the sun, moon and stars, architecture, ancient texts, geometry, portals, parallel universes, utopian worlds, fate, luck, serendipity, chaos and order. All historically and presently, used as and embedded with signs, indicators, markers, guide posts, cautionary tales and ways to garner the wisdom of the old to assist us in moving forward.
Having grown up as ministers daughter the use of such signs to shape thinking and decision making was fundamental in my upbringing, these signs were strictly biblically based, but even as a child it was something I often considered with a broad outsiders eye. Not taking things simply at face value. I guess this is where my initial curiosity and this analytical approach to signs began.
The wanders are my physical exposure to contrasting places and ways of living and the aforementioned observing of the diversity of signs. The travel began early for me, as a child with my parents frequent trips and moves within Australia and has continued with visits to Hong Kong, China, the UK, Ethiopia and Tunisia being recent highlights. Travel and exposure to a variety of ways of living and perceiving the world challenges all that exists in oneself. You can’t help but acknowledge that your own way of life and reality has been built on a cultural construct of what your own society has agreed to be the norm. This has always resulted in my looking deeply at my own life and considering where there may be hypocrisy and conflicts of interest. Wandering can be a short cut for an expanded view of others and yourself and subsequent personal growth.
Last, but not least are the words, I see words as the most powerful tools in the universe. They create the narrative for the signs and they are the building blocks for all things we see brought to life in our material world. Many of my ideas are formed first in words, increasingly in prose. I tend to see words and so my writing is very visual. The words underpin much of my work.Other people’s words are also a way of traveling without moving, of being transported into other perspectives, places and times without going anywhere.
Art in its many forms can help us feel the full gamut of our emotions and connect us to parts of ourselves that we may find hard to access.
My practice continues to diversify as I look for ways to share various mediums with my audience. This exhibition will therefore comprise of paintings, sculpture, installations and film.
My aim is to present not just a visual, but also a full body experience for those in attendance. For the work to be immersive, joyful and thought provoking, for you to consider the impact of the SIGNS, WANDERS & WORDS within your own life experience.
J A S M I N E
For a catalogue and any other enquiries please get in touch with BOOM at info@boomgallery.com.au for all other enquiries contact here directly.
To find out more about my practice here is a floor talk during my previous exhibition at Boom.