Wednesday 16 May 2012

the cracks

Today a trip to Muswellbrook and a delightful physiotherapist called Leonie examined my ankle. She pronounced all seemed to be well on the physical level. The fractured bone has knit, the scar from the operation is beautifully healed, the flexibility was very good and the muscles and tendons were a little weak but nothing that exercise won't strengthen.

I was surprised to hear that as I feel a lot of sensitivity and discomfort. There is numbness, pins and needles sensations and electrical shootings. It feels too weak for me to stand on it alone. Going up and down stairs has to be done very carefully. As she gently massaged my foot Leonie explained how a lot of stuff goes on in the brain. So much of what we interpret as pain is generated there, rather than literally in the tissues. My body might have substantially recovered but I have to complete the fixing with gaining confidence in my head.

After the physio session I dropped into the art gallery, as you do (Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre). Fantastic exhibition on at the moment - "Driven to Abstraction"  Showing the works of Carole Corrie and Garry Foye, on until 10 June. I was fascinated that these artists had participated in running a workshop for local artists and the results from that were also on display (eating my heart out) wow! how amazing to see the efforts of the students contrasted with the teachers.

I had a short chat with Brad Franks, the gallery director, just before I left, relating how blown away I felt by the brilliance of the art. I did suggest to Brad that my art is "anal retentive, I need to loosen up and get my head of my arse and I want to go home and chop up all my work, pastiche it back together and throw paint all over it" I think he may have been somewhat taken aback - haha, perhaps concerned that the work I've accumulated towards the August exhibition might end up vandalised!!! - however I meant that in absolute enthusiam. Not as a destruction of my art - but as a positive reconstruction!

I loved this quote from Muswellbrook photographer Roger Skinner, one of the curators of the exhibition and Arts Centre Education Officer, this is a portion of a statement he has on the gallery wall;


Somehow, there had to be a way to get the artists into the area and to teach some
of our local artists to free themselves up and explore the notions of beginning to abstract their
work. A means of encouraging them to move away from the literal, the mere replica
of what exists in front of the canvas, which is like learning by rote.
This process is not an easy one, because of previous learnings in schools where we
are encouraged to accurately replicate, which, is a most perfect nonsense. Teaching
is a subversive activity, and the difficulty we experience in getting free of the idea
of handing back to the tutor what they want instead of what we can do can sometimes fails most of us for most of our lives


Meantime (back on the farm) this where "Beyond" has gotten to yesterday....







So....now that I'm all fired up with wanting to DECONSTRUCT....where to from here!!!

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If you are interested in buying an artwork or booking a commission, please email me at pearl@upstairs-art.com.au