ABSTRACTION - Anne Morrison, Leah Thiessen & Julienne Harris - Artist Interview

22 July - 15 August 2020

0:12 Anne Morrison
1:32 Julienne Harris
3:25 Leah Thiessen
5:17 Exhibition View

Listen to established contemporary painters Anne Morrison, Julienne Harris and Leah Thiessen discuss the ideas behind their work from the joint exhibition ‘Abstraction’ at Despard Gallery.

Each artist explores the materiality of paint through the language of abstraction, their work guided by process and expression, as well a desire to instinctively respond to their immediate environment. Harris, Thiessen and Morrison individually draw from their close relationship to the landscape, visualising its intricacies, energy and binding connections. All three unique styles challenge how we navigate and perceive the world, offering the viewer a variety of new perspectives to appreciate the familiarity of nature, reinterpreted and open to infinite possibilities.

Studying at the Glasgow School of Art, the Royal College of Art and the University of Tasmania, Anne Morrison’s practice is informed by travel, foreign landscapes, ancient cultures and her home, the small village of Forth and its surrounding landscape situated in the north west coast of Tasmania. Morrison employs a sensitive and nuanced approach to painting that reflects on the intimate connection between body and land, personal experience and memory.

Based near Terranora Broadwater, New South Wales, Leah Thiessen studied at Seaforth TAFE and Southern Cross University. Thiessen uses paint to convey the strong connection she feels to the landscape that surrounds her home, employing the language of abstraction to visualise its energy and spirit. Through bold gestures and an intuitive use of line and colour, Thiessen’s paintings are reminiscent of an ecosystem and an environment which is forever changing, capturing its rich complexities and harmonious balance.

Based in Blackheath, New South Wales, Julienne Harris has been exhibiting nationally since the 1980’s, studying at the National Art School in Sydney, before moving to London to learn restoration and water gilding with Paul Levi and Bourlets. Described as an evolving performance, Harris uses paint intuitively, allowing its natural fluidity to guide the aesthetics of her work. The freedom of abstraction allows Harris to combine her many influences, visualising the subtleties of experience, memory and knowledge. Harris often works both inside and outside of the studio, employing methods of layering and erasure to capture a sense of time.

Видео ABSTRACTION - Anne Morrison, Leah Thiessen & Julienne Harris - Artist Interview канала Despard Gallery