Different Pathways to Awareness
‘Grounded’ by Margaret Cromb, ‘Philosophy Oil and Wax’ by Jean Bohuslav and ‘Expressions of Light’ by Lin Quaife:
5 May – 30 June 2013
Artists take their inspiration from many sources. With instinctive as well as learned skills, plus imagination, they are able to translate these sources into works of art that in turn can inspire others.
Artists Margaret Cromb, Jean Bohuslav and Lin Quaife, all exhibiting at Falkner Gallery, are excellent examples of this. Each is passionate about and committed to her own philosophy and influences. The results of each are quite different but are equally inspiring to others.
An avid and involved environmentalist, Margaret Cromb has concentrated on the Australian bushlands in her many solo exhibitions over the years. This exhibition ‘Grounded’ –Watercolours, Woodcuts and Collages – details her personal response to the Central Victorian environment which she has explored keenly since her move to Castlemaine three years ago. Leaves, bark, seeds and other ground litter are collaged onto handmade paper, giving an actual, permanent slice of the bush. Her watercolours are literal translations of the district’s open spaces, waterways, country roads and rocky hills, and her woodcuts, with their numerous colour layers, capture seasonal changes in various local locations.
She writes: I am trying to express the importance of our connection with the earth, how critical it is to our existence, to our happiness.”
Jean Bohuslav’s Show is entitled ‘Philosophy, Oil and Wax’. Sixteen encaustic paintings, illustrate her observations of the inner journey to Awareness, the search for truth and love. Human foibles are expressed as veiled illusions, which, due to her fascinating painting technique of applying oils and melted wax and medium to pigments on board/canvas, appear as layers of consciousness. Her subjects seem whimsical but are in fact deeply thought-provoking, and her technique adds to the mystery of her view of life’s journey of self-discovery.
The third exhibition is ‘Expressions of Light’ by Lin Quaife, an accomplished printmaker from New South Wales. Small abstract collagraphs are derived from Lin’s continued fascination with light. She writes: “Everything depends on light. Since being given a glass prism as a child. I have had a fascination with the rainbow spectrum and the myriad of possible combinations produced by the interplay of colour and light.”
Vibrant colours, reflective metal foils and rich textures make her works seem like fragments of glass reflected and refracted through the prism. They are akin to precious jewels.
Three artists, three visions, three exhibitions illustrating watercolour, encaustic painting and collage techniques, and woodcut and collagraph printmaking techniques, demonstrate a wealth of artistic skills, inspirations and achievements.
‘Grounded’ by Margaret Cromb, ‘Philosophy Oil and Wax’ by Jean Bohuslav and ‘Expressions of Light’ by Lin Quaife: