City of
Light
City of Light reflects on my most recent Artist Residency to Spain, May 2019.
It focusses on my experience in Europe, cultural and social influences,
contemporary printmaking practice and a strong association to place. The artist
residency was isolating, being situated between two small cities, but it
allowed me to write my own narrative and become the protagonist. It forced me
to meditate over the loss of my grandmother and my relentless conflict between
my Australian and Polish identity. I found that memories of drinking wine with
the locals, bicycle rides and visiting the farmers market unveiled themselves
as motifs within my etching, reminding me of the past. The use of quirky
bicycles, suitcases, red umbrellas and dresses capture the playfulness yet
obscure translation of travelling to a personal arcadia.
Themes
of memory and nostalgia are present in this exhibition, through the thick plate
tone, darkness and shades of grey. The subtlety of the pale architecture is not
dissimilar to the stained lace curtain in my Grandmothers kitchen or a hazy
recollection of Warsaw in the rain. The melancholic grey tones are what divide
the light from the dark and the use of multiple steel etching plates create a
strong distinction between background and foreground. Through my personal practice
as well as the influence of new techniques from the artist residency, my aim is
to capture the lightness and the darkness within the city scape, dividing and
uniting two worlds.