Bio In Security
Watercolour on paper, 55x73cm
Notes from my application for the Henrietta and Lola Ann Tunbridge watercolour scholarship:
It's as if these x-rays were made to be translated into a watercolour painting. See also my small multi-media piece, colour-coding the layers to different paint media (watercolours, acrylic and oils)
Notes from my application for the Henrietta and Lola Ann Tunbridge watercolour scholarship:
'Delicate' and 'detailed' - not necessarily qualities which are encouraged in a contemporary art environment, but they certainly explain why watercolours are my go-to medium. ... I enjoy detailed line-work, and this is a medium that creates its own fine outlines, from pigments pooling at the edge of a painted area
My current project is primarily about food systems, and these works address topics that interest me such as the Queensland fruit fly, the Seralini affair, and the ongoing GMO debate. I have been drawing links between the materiality of food and art - e.g. gum arabic, used as the binder in watercolour paints, is also used widely in processed food.
As paper itself also essentially acts as a binder, watercolours are notoriously unforgiving (unlike acrylic and oil paint, you can't scrub a layer away and paint over it,) but this is also what makes them appear so luminous, like a digital screen. Such translucency lends itself to to the process of layering, and aligns with my interest in X-rays. It also refers to the 'transparency' of certain systems - food labelling, medical science, surveillance, biosecurity.
It's as if these x-rays were made to be translated into a watercolour painting. See also my small multi-media piece, colour-coding the layers to different paint media (watercolours, acrylic and oils)
