
Weathering
WEATHERING: ABSTRACTED LANDSCAPES
@ Strathnairn Gallery November-December 2022
A joint exhibition with Judy Panucci. We explored the erosive processes of time and its agents within the merging of the natural and human environment. Barbara Dawson is exploring her connection to place and the environment and her interpretation of erosion and disintegration. On one level her work is a contemplation of the physical weathering in the environment - abstract representations of a landscape she engages with. At a deeper more personal level it is a reflection on ageing and weathering over a human lifetime; a parallel landscape of outer and inner worlds. I am fascinated by the outlines and shapes I see in the landscape. Be it the image of the contours and lines of the mountains around the ACT that I grew up with or the layers of the cliffs and rock faces of Jervis Bay, my current home, where I look for signs of the passage of time and the fragility in things, through their breakdown and evolution from weathering and ageing.
Weathering
Forgotten land: Weathering a Life. Charcoal and pastel ochre on bamboo paper 76x56 cms | Weathering’ combines the visuals and stories of place and memory. The outlines and shapes I see in the landscape fascinate me. I look for signs of the passage of time and the fragility in things, through their breakdown and evolution from weathering and ageing. Landscape offers me the opportunity to reconnect by exploring my sense of place.
Fractured I: Weathering a Life. Charcoal on bamboo paper 76x56 cms | This series of artworks explores a connection to place and the environment and my interpretation of erosion and disintegration. On one level my work is a contemplation of the physical weathering in the environment - abstract representations of a landscape I engage with. At a deeper more personal level it is a reflection on ageing and weathering over a human lifetime; a parallel landscape of outer and inner worlds.
Fractured II: Weathering a Life. Charcoal on bamboo paper 76x56 cms | I do not wish to reproduce the landscape itself, but what I feel and experience. I aim for an abstract representation having no desire to faithfully or literally reproduce it. Instead, I try to provide the viewer with an artwork they can lose themselves in and discover their own sense of quietness and stillness.
Endurance: Weathering a Life. Charcoal and Pastel on bamboo paper 76x56 cms | I continually photograph my world and inspiration comes from this. I look for the outlines I see in the landscape, be it the contours and lines of the mountains around the ACT that I grew up with or the layers of the cliffs and rock faces of Jervis Bay, my current home, where I look for signs of the passage of time and the fragility in things.
Timeless: Weathering a Life. Charcoal and pastel ochre on bamboo paper 76x56 cms | Mediums include natural colorants, such as charcoal, rust, ochres, chalk pastel and botanical inks, making a further connection with the qualities of the land.
Persistence: Weathering a Life. Rust, ochres and stitch on bamboo paper Diptych 58x76 cms | In this piece the paper was painted with weakened rust liquid. This is made from iron fragment hat has been left to rust in water and vinegar. The work was inspired by the eroded cliffs of Orion Beach on Jervis bay. They turn orange at sunset. Graphite markings and stitch were added to add texture and depth.
Degeneration: Weathering a Life. Ink and stitching on bamboo paper 76x56 cms | The colour palette is often limited, exploring tonal changes, sometimes adding stitch, which allows me to embrace the concept of time and timelessness.
Deconstructed: Weathering a Life. Mixed media, ink, salt and pastel on bamboo paper 76x56 cms | I often use old maps and other ephemera in my art. The maps in these works are vintage survey maps of regions I have either walked or driven. In my younger days I was an amateur rally driver and/or navigator. These rallies were usually run in the Brindabella Mountain ranges seen as the skyline of Canberra.
Fragment I. Ink, mixed media, gold paint 23x17 cms $70 | From one large work using inks and old maps similar to the deconstructed work I further fragmented my story into nine small art pieces. The works on paper were scrubbed and distressed to add a sense of aging and erosion.
Fragment II. Ink, mixed media, gold paint 23x17 cms $70 | Featured are two of these fragments. They were mounted in the exhibition in a group with the added gold ink along the ink and map lines joining the pieces like a path winding through and across the land.
Rusted landscape I. Artists’ Book. Recycled wood, mixed media on bamboo paper 25x10 cms | This book also has its origin in the landscape. The papers were eco dyed and then washed with a tint to recreate a rusted and ageing land. They contain rusty pieces of iron found on outskirts of lost settlements or towns. The covers are recycled fence palings again from houses that are no longer inhabited and left to deteriorate.
Recent Exhibitions
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Weathering 2022 | Strathnairn Arts
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Weathering Textiles 2022
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ReCover