sharing the adventure of visual arts
EAST GIPPSLAND ART GALLERY
Melanie Murphy | The Other Thing
08 September - 14 October 2023
Special opening event 5.30pm Friday 08 September | All welcome FREE
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"Within this collection of paintings, I convey my response to the surroundings with which I engage. Close to my home, an expansive view to the north has held me captivated for some time and has offered me both solace and space. Each canvas holds a testament to this realisation and to my visceral connection to the beauty, wildness and wonder of the landscape. Eschewing the conventional approach to landscape painting and attempting to capture an essence of place - I have relied heavily on my intuition and imagination, deliberately limiting my palette to transcend mere replication of visual stimuli.
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Below: Melanie Murphy, Untitled, Acrylic and graphite on canvas
Through the interplay of hues and patterns, I use symbolism to evoke beauty, employing forms and textures to imply both tangible elements and the obscured layers of the imperceptible. These works dance between the figurative and the abstract and oftentimes serve as a meditation on memory.
Though the ineffable nature of words often fails me, I am drawn to the quote by artist Ian Fairweather “Painting to me is something of a tightrope act; it is between representation and the other thing – whatever that is. It’s difficult to keep one’s balance.” Here’s to The Other Thing - whatever that is…"
- Melanie Murphy 2023
