Thawed, 2019

Thaw is a response to participating in the Silence Awareness Existence residency at Arteles Creative Creatre, Finland early 2018.

“Held during the Northern winter in the middle of the Finnish countryside I felt the snow covered land resonate with me in a profound way. I have been in snow many times before but never experienced the day to day reality of gazing out at fields of white freezing the land underneath. Tranquil, beautiful and deadly. Vivid blue shadows moved from left to right with the progression of the day. I would go for walks. At first my ears rang in the silent. Looking out at the snow I imagining what was underneath it. I felt an inevitable midlife crisis was replaced with something else. I remembered my childhood, saw the pattern of behaviour which traced my life. At times in contrast to the way I wanted to define myself. There were periods of clarity and periods of confusion in the context of a new land, new culture, a foreign climate. In the weeks before we left the temperature changed. Patches of green grass dotted the ground. As the landscape started to thaw so did I.”

The painting Thaw was exhibited in the group exhibition “Collective States” at Art Collective WA, Perth 1st – 22nd December 2018.