Julia Roche

WAGGA WAGGA ART GALLERY

Unearth
3 August - 22 September 2019

Through this new body of work, Julia Roche investigates the natural world and the tension around how people experience and respond to it. By leaving the large scale paintings exposed to the wind, sun and rain, both the canvas and medium are left vulnerable to the natural environment. After the intrusion of mist, rain, sunlight and debris the residual forms become imprinted on the canvases and they retain the physical qualities of the environment. Through this process Roche surrenders aesthetic control over the outcome, inviting the viewer to consider humanity’s innate desire to control Mother Nature. Her creative process further aims to challenge the audience’s concept of creation and, of equal significance, destruction – a fundamental struggle we all experience.

This series is patterned with subtle line motifs and mark-making that aims to challenge our notion of beauty and prompt our perceptions to evolve. 

‘In creating these landscapes my intention is to draw the viewer into a deeper space, and, with more focused observation, experience and realise the abstract and obscure.’
Julia Roche, 2019.