April - November 2023

Faculty of Law, University of Otago

Curated by Marion Wassenaar

Dunedin School of Art

This series of paintings bears witness to a period of time, a time spent building a body of work as evidence of my Master of Fine Arts project, titled Incandescent Molecules.

The investigative nature of this painterly project was built upon found cardboard shapes, each selected and curated to locate awkward and unusual forms which exist within the found structure, whilst also considering the unpredictable elements of pleasure that just occur. I want the paintings to visually challenge, seeking out un-pretty relationships via the clumsy, squanky and confronting; actively looking for moments of attraction within the forms and colours that delight yet confront, these works step forward to reveal themselves. These are the moments when the extraordinary and unusual clunkiness in the painting begin to coalesce, delivering intrigue and pleasure. Each painting develops its own personality as the awkwardness and slippage of the boards, and the vibrant edges and viscous ooze within the layers, delivers dynamic visual pleasure. This mode of practice accepts the emergence of the unknown and celebrates the fact that materials are full of surprises.

In acknowledging that paintings have an independent presence, our thinking transitions away from anthropocentric concepts of making, raising an awareness that materials have agency in the process and that something new can emerge from the material. Working in this way, maker and matter merge.