Thalia Robertson
Symbiosis
October 25th – November 11th, 2023
This series of paintings demonstrates my ongoing interest in emergence and morphogenesis. Influenced by my recent work in horticulture I have shifted from emblematic landscapes to the abstract and molecular as imagined with this exhibition.
The art practice in congruence with botanical studies could be described via the horticultural concept of symbiosis, used by Anton De Barry in the 19th Century to illustrate the relationship between trees and Lichen, however, is now used to describe any beneficial relationship, such as between art and science, artwork and viewer or artist and materials for example.
The symbiosis of serpentine form and negative space in this case, employing the toolbox of modernist easel painting, conveys an illusion of movement, of new forms emerging through playing with tonal variations, muted colour palette, and immediacy of brush work. Morphogenesis, or immanent emergence and the microcosm enlarged are attempted.
Corresponding with lyrical abstraction and colour field painting these paintings correlate with known historical threads in art and design, as it turned out, following a series of studio investigations dating back to 2020.
