Watercolour, pencil, soft pastel & pen on paper.
25.5 cmW x 37.5cmH (Frame 38.7 cmW x 50.7 cmH)
After months of locking myself away and creating for “Accept/Resist” I was feeling drained and didn’t know if I could keep it up. I was tackling some deep issues with each piece while also uncertain if I could continue finding new ideas and concepts to explore.
In tears, I spoke to my partner about it and he suggested that I ‘just paint something nice’. This made me think back to when I started this creative journey and my first marketable piece, ‘Spring Moon’. I decided I would revisit her and explore what she meant to me now.
‘Spring Moon’ is one of my most popular pieces, though I struggle with the asymmetry of it. She wasn’t planned at all and the addition of the mandala was an afterthought. I joke that she is part of my ‘girls looking down’ series, as most of my works during this time involved subjects looking away and averting their gaze. It wasn’t intentional, it is just what happened.
Painting ‘Waning’ with her looking directly at the viewer was completely intentional. I wanted to express that although I was currently drained and exhausted, I had come a long way and was stronger. I opted to make her curls more subtle and really own the watercolour medium too- the reason I created ‘Spring Moon’ in graphite and ink was because I was too scared to commit fully to watercolours and didn’t trust myself to do a good job of it. This piece allowed me to pause and appreciate what I have accomplished rather that how far I feel I have to go. I may have been waning at the time but that is a necessary part of the moon’s cycles.
“Waning” represents my journey thus far in becoming the artist I hope to be. I hope in another few of years I will revisit her again so I can appreciate how far I have come.
If you are interested in giving “Waning” a space in your world, please contact Platform Gallery directly.
Accept/Resist 11th-28th October
Platform Gallery
194 Katoomba St, Katoomba, NSW 2780
Ph: 02 4742 0047
E: hello@platformgallery.co
W: www.platformgallery.co