Links become harmonising factor
EXHIBITIONS that involve two artists can be juggling acts that sometimes defy cohesive interaction, especially when the differences seem paramount.
However, if the artists are exploring a particular concept or theme, or even specific techniques, then the links, no matter how obscure, can be a harmonising factor.
The Culliford Gallery at the Toowoomba Art Society, 1 Godsall Street, is presenting Unique Perspectives, an exhibition by Diana Battle and Robyn Croad.
The word “unique” implies something distinctive and individual.
This is certainly true of the exhibition, which actually appears as two separate bodies of work that share a space.
Fans of Diana Battle’s paintings will be pleased to see her familiar decorative patterns of light and foliage, little birds peeking from leaves, and dappled street scapes.
These are safe paintings adhering to her popular formula of soft, yet vigorous colours and busy, fragmented surfaces that seem to vibrate.
However, there are three works that show a change of pace.
A spontaneous approach to place is seen in the abstract gestures that define her response to a favourite beach.
In Magic Belongil Beach, the loose, painterly dashes of colour, punctuated by the precise definition of seagulls, adopt a moodier tertiarytipped palette.
Snippets of colour highlights are seen again in Reflections of Blue, a softly focused study of boats in a marina.
The landscape, Morning Glory - Mary River Valley, with its shafts of sunlight filtering across rolling hills gives the new day an aura of promise.
The placement of the artworks is thoughtfully balanced with attention to scale and imagery.
The nature of the exhibition space unfortunately does not allow the viewer enough room to step back and fully appreciate the coalescence of technique and imagery.
Robyn Croad’s watercolours on rice paper offer a delicacy and finesse enhanced by the physical nature of the paper.
The layers of watercolour and hot wax, the incorporation of eco dying in works such as Bouquet, and the linear detail as seen in Tuscan Pot, add further visual interest.
As singular studies, the paintings can be admired for their subtle elegance.
However, despite their modest size, the number of works on display emphasises the technique at the expense of the individual depiction of the subject.
The Perinet Gallery at the Art Society is showing Turning Japanese, an exhibition by Sian Carlyon and Virginia Snoswell, members of the Saturday Printmakers Group.
Carlyon implements Mokuhanga, the traditional waterbased wood block printing technique, to show how line and subtle tones can evoke mood and movement, effectively seen in her Magnolia.
Snoswell’s works are underpinned by the wabi-sabi philosophy of transience and imperfection.
The paper and cotton supports are simple, familiar, and comforting.
Her collaged eco prints, some defined by stitched details, include single leaves, remnants of nature metamorphosising into decay.