Proposal Abstract

In response to the personal significance and elemental power of Guerilla Bay (NSW, Australia) I propose to exhibit a series of recent watercolour monotypes eg. approx. two works in 168cm x 228cm and three works in 168cm x 76cm, with the final number and size of works adapted to suit the exhibition space.

My multi-panel watercolour monotypes cross boundaries between drawing, watercolour and printmaking processes, while referring to the boundaries and intersections between physical and emotional landscapes.

For me, the beautiful Guerilla Bay will always be intertwined with memories of Summer 2016/17, the last shared with my Mum. Around that time I encountered Rebecca Solnit’s thoughts on ‘the blue of distance’ (the blue at the horizon, which we can never quite reach). In the process of revisiting and reimagining the environment from the physical and temporal distance of my studio, blue suggested an appropriate sense of memory and emotion.

The fluidity of the watercolour monotype medium directed the atmosphere of the work: dripping skies signify a release and break the horizon to link sea and sky. The watercolour monotype printmaking process allows me to work back and forth between light and dark—wiping away light from the plastic printing plate with a damp cloth wrapped around my finger.

Scaled in relation to my body and retaining the marks of my hand, these immersive prints are acts of personal endurance, both physical and emotional, emphasising the endurance of the natural environment and the strength we can draw from it. The rock formations of Guerilla Bay are some of the oldest on the east coast of Australia, dating back as far as 510 million years, offering a humbling perspective in line with the words of Frédéric Gros: ‘Walking in nature gives you a feeling of duration that exceeds your own existence.’