On The Horizon
A Multifaceted Group Exhibition
Featuring Artists
Michael Davis, Gwen Scott, Fiona Kain, Michael Fegan
Charlotte Kimberlee, Alexandra Strong & Roy Fong
Opening Reception Saturday 13th of May 2023, 6-8pm with Live Music by Tall Shaun
VIEW CATALOGUE HERE
Bright stencil-like trees stand before a shallow darkened background, allowing them to visually pop. Davis describes these works as an “ode to street trees.” Fragments of text and speech bubbles serve to personify the trees, giving them individual character. It also perhaps speaks to the peculiarities of human emotion and desire.These works were loosely inspired by the countless lockdown walks taken by Sydney siders during recent lockdowns. Street trees, often passed by without a sideways glance, became for many their only exposure to the natural world, subsequently taking on a new level of significance and appreciation.
The “Cocoon Series” is my allegory to the loud, busy and hyperconnected world that most of us live in. Escaping the city, seeking refuge in nature and finding solitude to re-energise and reflect has always been part of my life and for many others who have the privilege to do so. The human desire to seek out and create a “cocoon” for oneself is universal. Drawing from my feelings and memories of solitary moments from my past and present, my relationship with animals and pets, my passion for pattern design and my local seaside environment, I have sought to weave an emotional narrative reflects a cocooned space.
Through meticulously designed artist smocks, Fiona Kain paints portals into moments throughout art that take on new meanings with the passage of time. As a storyteller, Kain reinterprets the mystery and tragedy of the late artist Ana Mendieta and the role her partner, Minimalist artist Carl Andre, had in her death. Using imagery from Mendieta’s “Blood and Feathers”, Andre’s “Magnesium Square 144”, and chopsticks symbolising their final night together, she asks us to reconsider the way these stories influence the way we think about their art decades later. Compounded by typography repeating the words of artist Marina Abramovic’s memoir, “An Artist’s Conduct in His Life” and a continuation of Kain’s clock imagery, she visualises the layers of meaning imbued within works of art.
Michael Fegan has always been influenced by his love of nature. The compositions are all about using strong bold colours, to get an emotional response from the viewer and to celebrate the complexity of the natural world. Painting is a medium that gives him an outlet to express himself, while finding it extremely therapeutic.
Charlotte Kimberlee’s works are her homage to the birds and plants and to the precious beauty of the Shoalhaven area. She has been drawing and painting as long as she can remember. She loves working with soft pastels – the purity of colour, the intensity, the immediacy – there’s no need to stop to mix the right colour or to wait for anything to dry. Unlike paint, the colours of soft pastels do not change when they dry.
Alexandra’s still life work is a different focus for her, she enjoy’s this style of painting as she needs to engage in a different way of thinking, looking at shape and shadow rather than using her intuition of colour and pattern. These paintings celebrate the everyday and the household tabletop.
Roy’s material choice of ‘timber’ was a natural one, given that a large part of his earlier career was spent as a cabinet maker. Each timber, defined by its unique characteristics, grain and line, literally speaks to him. The artist in him extends beyond a prescriptive approach, embracing a willingness to uncover what lies within. Roy embraces the freedom of his creativity, driven by his love and passion for timber. Each piece literally speaks to him, resulting in a unique conversation through grain and texture, and the interplay of the elements. His current collection has an emphasis on relationships and connectivity. Artists such as Alberto Giacometti, Barbara Hepworth and Constantine Brancusi inspire many of his works.
