Cloissone 2006
Australian Museum Research Project 2004-6
Exhibited at Esa Jake Gallery in 2006, Chippendale NSW
This body of work has been completed over the last 18 months and continues to focus on an intuitive approach to painting and the mark making process of drawing. Using pigmented inks, collage and acrylic paint to explore pattern and repetition in nature; I draw on rich sources of motifs and organic structures from the specimens at the Australian Museum, my personal collection as well as found images. Using a magnifying glass (which also dictated the format), to examine mostly marine invertebrates I amassed sketchbooks full of detailed research drawings in pen and ink.
Working back in the studio it was clear that the next works were not about faithful representation, but development of a personal language where subject matter is embedded and suspended in the viscosity of the paint. The works are structured in layers where I “arrive” at a resolved work. This emphasises the element of chance and importance of play in the production of drawings or paintings and has been a preoccupation of my art practice for the last ten years.
The title Cloisonné refers to a type of delicate jewel like enameling process originating in China and derived from the word “partition” which in French is cloisons. I see each of the series of three drawings as a description of one organism or specimen partitioned into its constituent parts, patterns and structures. The mounting is intended to highlight the object ness and emphasize both intimacy of production and viewing.
Sarah Mufford
August 2006