The artists in this exhibition would usually value alone-time and seek it out on residencies or in studios, insulated away from the world. For them the COVID-19 crisis period of isolation wasn’t necessarily positive or productive in that way, but it did open up some space for reflection and introspection.
Prior to the COVID-19 crisis these artists were all connected by their participation in the ‘Silence Awareness Existence’ residencies at Arteles Finland, 2012-2019. Drawn to the isolated, quiet and introverted elements of Finnish culture, winter countryside and the secluded nature of the residency; they were inspired to focus on and develop their individual introspective creative processes.
From these common threads of contemplation and quiet attentiveness, new conversations have grown whilst grappling with recent imposed isolation at home. These creative connections now come together opening up space for sharing with others recent experiences of folding inwards during the COVID-19 crisis.
Introversion is a collective response to the artists’ exploration of self, home, imagination and mindscape; letting go of the outside world, the city rat-race and extraverted social interactions. Through their shared exploration of alone-time, each reflects on their unique challenges of enforced social isolation and its impact on the inner-psyche. Introversion shares their experiences of creative indoor plant cultivation, working patiently with layered textures and natural materials, mesmerising metallic painting processes, videos conjuring the elemental and notions of memory, and the meditative process of kneading and baking bread.
Introversion, 3 – 19 July 2020
Artists: Kath Fries, Prudence Holloway, Fiona Kemp, Kenneth Lambert, Isobel Markus-Dunworth and Jacqui Mills
Breaking Bread opening event: Saturday 4 July 2 - 4pm
Artists Talks and closing drinks: Sunday 19 July 2 - 4pm
introversion-groupshow.squarespace.com
Articulate project space
497 Parramatta Road, Leichhardt NSW 2040
open Friday to Sunday 11am - 5pm
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| work in progress for ‘Whisperings' |
For Introversion, I will be installing a new work titled Whisperings, which began with gathering fallen pieces of paperbark from a line of trees, (Melaleuca quinquenervia) across the road from my home. The trunks of these trees have always fascinated me with their thick undulating layers of soft bark, which seem to emanate comfort and mellow presence. Perhaps the local history of the Gadigal Wangal people, cradling their babies in paperbark coolamons, also feeds into my notion of these trees as nurturing guardians and conduits of dreams.
Tentatively striping back the paperbark stratums of colour and texture, pulling away delicate thin sheets, like peeling skin; this process of exploring the paperbark layers becomes meditative. Slipping into analysing my inner-scapes of compounded habits, expectations, experiences and anxieties; self-reflection expanding and contracting with the variations of the stratums. Handling these delicate layers of paperbark, the trees’ stories quietly whispered to me. Imprinted with material memories of traffic fumes, human constructions, rain, drought, summer heat, winter chills, burrowing insects, chirping birds; subtly hinting at ancient arboreal wisdoms of place, reaching root systems far underground despite tarmac roads compressed by heavy trucks and constant car traffic; and stretching branches into the sky towards sunlight.
Whisperings of a dreamlike threshold where exterior meets interior, conjuring a porous boundary of contemplation and the reality of interconnectedness.
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