Yes I have another exhibition going on!! OPEN SANCTUARY!!!
Open Sanctuary is a collection of intuitive abstract works I created in 2022. Inspired by my art residency at Gulf Harbour where I get to enjoy frequent visits to Shakespear Park, a haven for native wildlife amidst sheltered bays, wetlands, regenerating native forest, cliffs, historic places and a lookout with views second to none. The concept of “Open Sanctuary” became alive to me. I became fascinated with this idea and saw not just the wildlife needs an open sanctuary but also our human souls.
Under the vast horizon of the open sanctuary I feel expansive and enlarged, free and empowered. As if returning to the 7 year old kid I can run, frolic and explore as I am. In my dabbling into psychology, I understand how we humans have contradictory needs for both safety and adventure, control and surprise. And as a creative, we constantly live between the tension of the pendulum, both needed to keep our creative soul alive and fresh. I start to see how “Open Sanctuary” could be the perfect metaphor for a creative haven where adventures abound in a safe flourishing ecosystem.
My technical approach is an utter surrender to the intuitive process. Without much thinking nor planning, I followed the 7 year old in me, simply allowing a wide range of paints and ink to have a party on the canvases. I abandoned traditional brushes and instead employed rollers, silicon wedges, foam brushes, trowels, and fingers. I followed my need for certain colour palettes and enjoyed the very tactile experience of creating a diverse textures of the paints on canvas.
I realised mostly in retrospect what I was trying to capture on the canvases - something
Like a new leaf unfurled in the spring breeze
Like the smile of a baby dreaming away in strong arms
Like the shellfish exposed its vulnerable flesh soft and tender
Like the newborn skin pink and young and transparent
In an Open Sanctuary our hearts can start to open up
Feeling trusting, accepted, embraced again
The safety allows us to explore the unknown and chase the wild
There is a deep knowing that after our adventures we have a resting place to return to.