SYMBOL OF FEAR & FRUSTRATION encaustic mixed media 78.5cm x 78.5cm artist Marilyn Barrington
COVID 19 sweeps the World spreading fear and frustration forcing Australia to close its Borders to the World and between its States. Then Regional borders in W.A.
Closing Regional Borders created a division of communities at the Frankland River with the forest divided also. Mask wearing became mandatory creating mixed reactions.
Is the mask protecting you from others or others from you.
Fear and frustration became a way of life dividing public opinion. Mask wearing caused a debate and protests. Now 3 years later and the debate still goes on.
To create SYMBOL OF FEAR & FRUSTRATION Many layers of beeswax & damar resin in a heated form have been applied over inks and gouache sealing each layer with a heat gun. Pigments & Collage elements have been applied to the surface and sealed within the wax.
‘Open Borders’ is a series of 12 group exhibitions and 3 original performances held across all 9 regions of WA during 2022-23. Each event reflects the unique interests, artists and experiences of the diverse participating communities (Kununurra, Broome, Port Hedland, Gascoyne Junction, Geraldton, Carnamah, Kalgoorlie, Esperance, Ravensthorpe, Narrogin, Denmark, Northcliffe, Margaret River and Dwellingup). Interconnected through the central theme of ‘Open Borders’, the project aims to culminate in a survey of contemporary regional art practice at John Curtin Gallery (Perth) in September-November 2023.
Curatorial Brief:
Fluorescent Yellow // Electric Lime
What exists within the borders?
When processing the world around us, the human brain is unable to treat every object as unique. The volumes of data that surround us must be simplified and structured so that we avoid cognitive overload. Categorisation comes naturally, allowing us to make sense by organising things, which assists us to communicate, predict, make decisions and navigate.
Colours are one of the first concepts taught to children, and with the idea comes a strict set of boundaries. This is red, that one’s yellow, look – there’s blue, black, white. We allow these visual experiences to blend, further defining orange, green, purple, grey. As we grow and as our vocabulary expands, we can be more specific and further classify. Lilac. Turquoise. Navy.
ColorHexa, the online colour encyclopaedia defines the colour of tennis balls (#ccff00) as
“Fluorescent yellow or Electric lime”. Are we able to accept such a conflicting definition? Can tennis balls be both green and yellow at the same time? Where does one colour end and the next begin?
Things that have a foot in each camp make us feel discomfort. They create tension as they demand extra consideration before we’re able to accept them. These concepts remind us that our common vernacular is not nearly prescriptive enough, and that our lexicon needs to continually evolve.
This exhibition aims to explore ‘oddities’ or ‘anomalies’, concepts that do not fit within the borders of categories that we create, or our reactions to them – are we accepting or do we struggle?