Space 2
Escape
Kathy Fahey
Exhibition dates. 3-14Nov 2021
Opening night. Thu 4 Nov 2021, 6:00 - 8:30pm
I am a Melbourne based artist and my practice includes painting, collage and artist books. My recent work can be divided into two categories, landscape paintings in acrylic or oils and hand painted collages using acrylic paint, acid free glue and Stonehenge Paper.
The central motif of my paintings and collages is the Australian landscape. My work looks at the quintessential elements of the landscape such as deep shadows, reflections, straggly eucalypts, changing skies, sepia waterways, rugged coastlines and vast oceans. Central to my work is the very act of making art - mark making, colour, layering, negative/positive space, movement and a painterly surface. My paintings and collages are renderings of colour, light and form, they are as much about these elements as they are the landscape. They are not photo- representative but rather my interpretation of the natural world, slightly abstracted and expressive but still recognisable glimpses of the Australian landscape.
‘Escape’ is a part of a series of work I made during the Covid Lockdowns in Melbourne in 2020 and 2021. Painting and collaging the landscape became a form of escape from the sometimes distressing and very restricting situation we all found ourselves in during this period. Many of the pieces in this exhibition are based on landscapes I enjoyed on the hundreds of walks I undertook in local parks and remnant native bushland all within the mandatory five kilometres from home. It was a source of comfort and joy to watch this bushland change as the seasons rolled over again and again. Other pieces are based upon recollections of landscapes visited in better times. A time when we could escape the city and experience rural and bush settings miles from home and any thoughts of a pandemic.
