Image: Fran Meatheringham, E3 (detail), 2021, oil on canvas, 76 x 61 cm. Courtesy of the artist.
Gallery 1b
Michele England, Dash Kossmann, Fran Meatheringham
18 March - 4 April 2021
βArs longa, Vita brevisβ β art is long, life is short. In response to the juxtaposition of this aphorism and the concept of ephemera, each artist is presenting expressive works through the lens of contemporary life. These artworks seek to extend in time and space the transient quality of ephemera via its material representation in art.
The Ephemera exhibition includes works by Michele England, Dash Kossmann and Fran Meatheringham, which investigate the concept of the ephemeral and the impermanence of things.
The works by Michele England address her ongoing concerns about human endeavour at the expense of natural systems. Paintings, using a collaged aesthetic show connections between fast and slow time, culture and nature, permanence and transience.
Dash Kossmann draws her inspiration from the Australian landscape and its native wildlife. Her paintings investigate the impact of human activity on the global environment and the accelerating extinction of species in the epoch of the Anthropocene. Through the interface of these themes together with the element of time, the works seek to evoke the complexity, fragility and ephemerality of life on earth.
Fran Meatheringhamβs paintings are inspired by observation of ever-changing light patterns reflected from surfaces such as water. Reworking these impressions through abstract shifting shape and colour, an energy is suggested between fluid movement and stillness.
Along with these individual works, a collaborative piece references simultaneously the ephemeral and the eternal. Collectively this speaks of the artistsβ experiences of time and transience. The parts are arranged to create a visual flow along the entirety of an infinity symbol, creating a loop that is never ending.