Merran Esson, Judy Holding & Denese Oates
Shades of Green and Blue
13 March - 14 April 2018
View exhibition catalogue
Artists MERRAN ESSON, JUDY HOLDING and DENESE OATES draw inspiration from the palette of nature, distilling the human experience of the land to create works that form a tribute to its many shades.
MERRAN ESSON’s investigation into ceramic vessels began with the container not just as a practical device but also as a structure. Drawing from her rural upbringing on the land, ESSON explores the vessel in relation to man-made catchments such as tanks and dams, as well as naturally occurring catchments such as basin shaped areas and drainage networks in nature. Alongside her works that draw reference to tanks and corrugated iron, ESSON’s latest elegant, bulbous forms defy notions of form and weight, and in their perforated organic forms reject the implied function of vessels.
Inspired by her time in the bush JUDY HOLDING celebrates Australian Indigenous cultures and their intrinsic connection to the land. Employing specific cultural symbols – including the Australian Eucalypt and native birds such as the “cocky” – HOLDING’s practice comments upon the complex history of settler and Indigenous cultures in Australia, and their contrasting relationships with the land. Her sculptures contrast abstract modern textures and shapes with natural forms. Combining natural forms with bold injections of colour - cool purples, bold orange tones and cobalt blue – HOLDING’s playful works spark conversations about Australia’s indeterminate ecological future.
Working with green and copper hues, DENESE OATES transforms ordinary copper wire into inspired and carefully crafted natural forms that are full of undulating movement and rhythmic lines. From her copper wall sculptures that take the form of painterly trees and vines, to her ‘topiary sculptures’ that train verdigris copper vines into boulders and rotund forms, OATES’ sculptures remind us of nature’s remarkable capacity to regenerate, proliferate and multiply.
In their ceramics, sculptures and wall pieces ESSON, HOLDING AND OATES branch out, teasing the imagination to extend our human understanding of the natural world and our relationship to it.
