cathy blanchflower

artist in residence

11 october - 9 november 2013

Turner Galleries are very pleased to welcome Cathy Blanchflower back to Perth to participate in our Artist in Residence Programme and to showcase her newest artworks in a solo exhibition.

This is her first show in Perth since 2009 and collectors and connoisseurs of fine abstract painting eagerly await it.

The extraordinary abstract paintings by Cathy Blanchflower resonate with colour and vibrate with layers of patterning. She draws on a rich heritage of art history, from the sinuous curls and luscious colours and patterning of William Morris and the art and craft movement, Islamic tiling, through to the hard edge and op-art of the 1960s. When viewed from afar her paintings appear mathematically and almost computer generated perfection, but closer inspection rewards the viewer with their very painterly surface of brush strokes, small smudges and splatters. The hand of the artist is very evident.

Cathy stated, “Painting, for me, has always attempted to translate the experiences of existing in the world into a visual language. It is a means of placing things into a natural order to define a certain type of space, which is at the core of each work. The process of layering patterns or fields of colour enables me to find an ‘in-between space’ created by the reaction of each layer to the other. This space is intangible and unpredictable, only emerging when the layers are in harmony with each other.

A move four years ago to the spectacular Blue Mountains in NSW has brought with it a new set of experiences and challenges. How to respond to and interpret an environment consisting of such diversity and contrast? Dense foliage and vast open space, dramatic changes of light and colour, complex organic structures, the constant shaping of the land by water and wind, and the sense of living at the edge of a wilderness.

The process of painting, however, has always felt the same – a striving to achieve harmony between oneself and the world”

Cathy Blanchflower was born in 1971 in the UK, and migrated to Australia in 1972. She lived in Perth for several years, graduating from Curtin University in 1992, and moved to Melbourne in 2004 before settling in the Blue Mountains in NSW. Her artworks can be found in numerous important collections, including the Art Gallery of WA, Artbank, National Gallery of Australia, University of WA, Wesfarmers, University of Sydney, Murdoch University, and many others.

 

 

 

 

~7 oil on canvas 168 x 198cm 2013 $12,500	ζ oil on canvas 168 x 168cm 2013 $11,000 sold
~9 oil on canvas 84 x 84cm 2013 $4,500	~8 oil on canvas 168 x 199cm 2013 $12,500
~6 oil on canvas 167 x 198cm 2013 $12,500	ξ oil on canvas 167 x 167cm 2013 $11,000 sold to the art gallery of wa
~ ~ oil on canvas 152 x 152cm 2011 $10,000