Saturday, August 20, 1994

NO ABSOLUTES - Helga Groves, Kate Mackay, Julie Savage - Tin Sheds Gallery, Sydney - 20 August to 10 September, 1994

Myself, Helga Groves and Julie Savage organised an exhibition at the Tin Sheds Gallery at Sydney University.  This was in the days when the Tin Sheds were still in a tin shed.  


I exhibited 35 of the small paintings that I had been calling 'Same Paintings'.  These works were all made from the same stencil patterns that were layered on top of each other, except that each work used a different colour combination.  I had originally meant these paintings to be all brightly colored - they were oil on canvas versions of the works on paper that I had exhibited under the roadway as part of the Art Hotline exhibitions.  The only trouble was that when I completed them I didn't like them - I found the colour combinations too discordant.  Here is an image of some of the works when they were initially finished...

The funny thing is that I really like them now and wish that I had been brave enough to leave them like that.  Instead I covered each canvas with an almost black/slightly metallic wash - which of course knocked them all back so that they worked perfectly together - what a cop out....


'Same Paintings' oil on canvas, 35cm x 35cm each, 1993
But the good thing that came from them was that removing the colour meant that the texture of the pieces was emphasized.  The use of oil paint with stencils  leaves raised edges on the patterning.  I realised that I could get these works cast in metal so that only the texture of the pattern created by the paint remains (although they also have an added random decorative element where as the poured metal cools it leaves burnt swirled patterns).  
'Same Again' cast aluminium, 35cm x 35cm, 1994


'Same Paintings' & 'Same Again' installation view, Tin Sheds Gallery, 1994