HELEN GORY
DEFINE
29.07.2022 ~ 14.08.2022
Tracing the limits of what remains within and what must stay outside, Gory’s latest solo exhibition at Collingwood’s Backwoods Gallery brings together a series of large-scale works interweaving drawing, oil painting and collage. Define continues the artist’s ongoing exploration of the disconnectedness that permeates contemporary human relationships.
Pared back, the exhibition contains only six works– The Vessel, Peek A Boo, Grasp, To Lend a Hand, To Have and To Hold and Tear Drops of Blood – which have been refined and defined allegorically and metaphorically. Each artwork title is a clue to a story which, says Gory, ‘is relevant if the viewer wants it to be.’ In this way, the works unfold to multiple interpretations, allowing Gory to create a dialogue with her viewers.
With historical references to Dadaism and Symbolism, the use of vintage imagery and black ink creates a visceral aesthetic. Thick gold pigment abounds, a colour symbolic of both tragedy and hope. Each of the works depict limits that have been breached, misunderstandings and misinterpretations. A human clinging to his last vestiges of dignity by smoking a cigarette while the golden hand of hope looms large like a carrot and stick. Society isn’t there when you need it most. A vessel holding flowers is broken, scratched, scarred.
Define is an exhibition that embraces ambiguity and contradiction. It is richly layered, and rich with meaning.
