Mottled 2003
Exhibited downstairs, Mary Place Gallery,
Paddington NSW Dec 2003
My new work continues to explore pattern and repetition of internal and external forms sourced from nature. I am more interested in an intuitive, process based approach that is now moving away from the politics of representation to be drawn to a hidden and alchemic order. The works are grounded in historical painting technique, employing layering to explore changing surface configurations and optical colour interaction, with motifs embedded and suspended in the viscosity of the paint.
Each work is developed by repeating a shape which is dictated by the use of a particular brush using the grid to establish a common framework. Forms are repeated working generally with hues from light to dark as I relish in the organic development of each painting and the myriad of choices in directional movement of the brush, pigment, saturation and dilution of the oil and ink. Honeycomb, coral nets float across the surface unifying and linking fields of syrupy seed. The sublime qualities of the media and the supports which I choose to work on are central to my exploration of natural phenomena. I intend to pursue these working methods to develop my personal language of material and form.
Sarah Mufford
July 2003